


flesh & bone

by Sorunort



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe, Android AU, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Robot AU, amnesia Kind of?? hm i wonder, and its in the background its not the main focus, expensive headphones (one sided), haha turns out they all dated in the past but THEYRE ALL FRIENDS RIGHT NOW, jeremy is an android with trauma, squip squad is all friends without dating, they might date later but its not priority ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2020-09-29 13:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20436650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorunort/pseuds/Sorunort
Summary: Androids are more or less a common sight in 2019. They first hit the market in 1995 with the new JER3 units. But they were expensive and often broke down and faded into the first stage of what would become technological achievements in android development. Forgotten to time until Michael discovers a busted JER3 unit in the back of an antique shop. He's not about to pass up an opportunity to have his very own android from the 90s and takes it back with him for repairs.But there's more to the deactivated JER3 than Michael ever anticipated.*an android au i wrote because i really like will rolands rendition of flesh & bone





	1. antique shop android

**Author's Note:**

> hi i wrote this just because i really like that video of will roland singing 'Flesh & Bone' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8B9svV8bXw ) which is about a junkyard robot coming to terms with its feelings and identity. so....... you can already guess the basis for this story lmao  
uhhh i'll explain it within the story later but basically androids are a normal sight but not Everyone has one, mostly wealthy and rich people have androids. so middle class folk dont normally have an android. i have more worldbuilding i swear but ill reveal that later probably ok enjoy

Michael _ loved _ the antique store. Nestled on the corner of Main Street between the fire department and a photo studio it looked like a normal townhouse to any passerby. The building was covered in ivy threatening to overtake the garage door and entrance. Through the garage door windows were a string of fairy lights hung above a series of potted plants. The outside was a treat but the inside was just as nice-- at least in Michaels opinion.

Old clocks decorated the walls. Any and all available space was taken up by _some_ kind of clock. Dusty and fancy kinds right next to faded pink cat clocks whose tails would rock back and forth with the hands. Rugs from decades past lined the floor with intricate patterns that once must have looked refined and gorgeous but now held stains and dirt from too many shoes. There were plenty of display cases but there were also lots of shelves just stacked and piled high with an assortment of items. Hats, paintings, kettles, lamps, you name it they had it. 

Michael could spend all day rifling through the different displays, digging for untold treasure. Once he found a small Back to the Future stand of the Delorean next to the clocktower with the words ‘_ Universal Studios Japan _’ printed on the bottom. That may have been one of the happiest days of his life but today he was on a mission. A very special mission that could only be fulfilled in this shop and this shop alone.

Cassette tapes. Michael wanted a vintage cassette. 

So he prowled through the displays, picking through bins and drawers, all the while turning up short-though he did find a slightly off color figure of Blinky, he would definitely take that. Turning the ghost over in his hand Michael sighed and threw his head back. “Hey, Mr. Fraaank?” He called out. The shop wasn’t enormous (it was in a garage) so his voice carried just fine. Not like he had to worry about disturbing any customers since he was the only one there. “You got any cassette tapes lying around?”

Mr. Frank looked like what one might picture an antique shop owner would look like. Elderly, bald, and he had wide glasses that magnified his eyes twice their size. He had a bit of a hunch that made him look short but he was already on the shorter side as is.

Michael heard a chair scuffle as he assumed Mr. Frank was getting out from around the countertop that served as his checkout corner. “Cassettes?” He said, trying to match Michael’s voice in volume but with added strain.

“Yeah, like, old cassette tapes,” Michael said and mimed out the object with his free hand. “Also, I’m buying this Blinky.”

The man hummed and approached the teenager, gears turning in his brain. When was the last time someone came in and asked for a cassette? … Then again, when was the last time someone besides Michael came in? “Aah, check the back room. There might be some lying around there, Mike.”

Michael threw on a pained smile. He liked Mr. Frank and loved his shop but he could do with the nickname. It made him feel like he was visiting his relatives and they all crowded around to see _ Little Mikey _ and ask how school was doing. “I didn’t know you had a backroom, Mr. Frank.”

“Well where else would I put my stock?”

He took one look around the garage overflowing with what could only be described as stock. “Uh… Everywhere?”

Mr. Frank chuckled and clapped Michael on the back. “You’re a little stinker, Mike. It’s back through that door there,” he said pointing a shaky hand to a door a little ways off behind the checkout counter. Michael always assumed it lead to his house but apparently there was more to the store!

“Holding out on me, huh, Mr. Frank?” Michael joked with a much more relaxed smile and headed for the back room. The man followed after Michael but at a slower pace. The door was unlocked, that didn’t seem right for a stock room-what if someone broke in?- but who was he to judge, so Michael wandered in. 

It wasn’t much bigger than a closet. Shelves piled high with just as many odds and ends as the main store. The only light source was a single bulb in the center of the ceiling. Michael tugged on a cord to turn it on and tried to ignore all the dust circulating the space. There were a few small storage boxes on the shelves so Michael decided to start there.

He sorted through about four boxes before he came to the last one. There wasn’t too much of interest. A lot of scarves and shoes and gloves from some fashion era of times past (_maybe Chloe would like some of these actually _, he thought and pocketed a slightly less dusty scarf) until Michael came to a much smaller box inside. Cracking the lid open Michael was both delighted and relieved to see a handful of cassette tapes within. 

Clutching the box tight Michael held it high above his head, cheering, “Success!” Finally! His mission was complete! And his bonus prizes were a scarf for his friend a Blinky for himself. Not a bad haul.

But he didn’t grip the box as tight as he thought. Swinging the box back down his fingers slipped and the box clattered to the floor. Immediately Michael winced and grit his teeth, looking over his shoulder to see Mr. Frank standing. Watching his only customer throw his stock merchandise on the ground. _Oops._

“_ Sooorryyy… _” He whispered like a guilty kid caught stealing from the cookie jar. 

Mr. Frank shook his head and pointed at the cassettes strewn about. “I can’t bend over to pick those up.”

“No! Yeah, no, I know!” Michael waved him off and got to his knees. “I wasn't gonna make you do that anyway!” Michael waved each cassette around to banish any excess dust before putting it back in the box. One tape scattered across the floor and into a pile of … well, everything and anything. An acoustic guitar without strings, a sign reading PAINTERS CLUB INQUIRE WITHIN, and other large objects that couldn’t fit in the main store. Michael huffed and got to setting them aside one by one, careful not to move his foot and hit the tape box either, until he saw the cassette just waiting for him in a pile of dust bunnies.

Gross. But he was already kneeling in dust and a thin layer of grime anyway. Michael reached for the tape when his hand brushed past a … 

…a hand?

He could only stare at first, unsure of what to make of it. It looked like a mannequin hand sticking out from under another comically large sign. Quirking his head Michael reached under to give it a poke. He didn’t know what he expected but nothing happened or fell over. So he picked up the cassette, dropped it back in the box, and got to moving the sign away.

Michael nearly screamed and fell back on his rear. 

The sound was nothing more than a sharp gasp, choking any shrieks before they could escape. He fell back on his rear as the sign hit the ground revealing the torso and head of a person. They were hairless and their eyes were shut. Their arms splayed out beside them, like they collapsed and never bothered to move after that. But where there should have been skin was just rusted metal and wires sticking out from the arm sockets and joints. It was a miracle the arms stayed attached considering the techno-gore that was their waist. If circuits and cords were entails this would be a bloody mess. Like someone took a hacksaw and just carved them in half.

No, person wasn’t right. This was an android.

Still stunned but more so in awe than fear Michael got back up on his knees, tentatively leaning forward. He had seen plenty of androids before but they were always pristine and in tip-top shape. Nothing like _ this _. Slowly his fingers ghosted over the torso, creating a trail between layers of dust. When it didn’t miraculously turn on Michael slid his index finger across its cheek. No signs of life there, obviously, and Michael heaved a breath. 

“You didn’t tell me you had an android,” Michael said his shoulder, not daring to take his eyes off the machine.

Mr. Frank huffed. “I didn’t know. Forgot all about it.”

“When did you get it?” Michael mumbled, gingerly picking up it’s hand and testing with each individual finger. They were stiff but didn’t give too much resistance when moving up and down. 

The man let out a groan, shuffling in place. “I don’t even think it’s mine, Mike. I never owned one of those things.”

“It’s in your shop, though.”

“Sometimes things just end up here.”

Fair enough, he guessed. As his eyes combed through the android, taking in every little detail, he zeroed in on what looked like letters by it’s chin. ‘JER3’ was engraved into the metal of the jaw plate. Michael stared at it for a minute, racking his brain. JER3, JER3, that _definitely_ sounded familiar. Like it was on the tip of his tongue. Android models nowadays all had similar names like KAR9 or WZR5 but JER3 was important--

Michael nearly screamed _again_ but not out of fear. This time he shrieked, clutching the androids hand so tight he thought it might snap off. “Holy _ shit! _” He gasped, looking at the android with a new light. “Holy shit, Mr. Frank, it’s a JER3!” Michael wildly glanced between Mr. Frank and the android, unable to pinpoint his excitement to any one thing or person. “You actually _have_ one of these things!”

Mr. Frank was startled to say the least, his magnified eyes wide in bewilderment. “Mike, I don’t know what this means--”

Michael was already tripping over his words to explain. “JER3’s are like the _coolest thing ever!_ They’re from Japan _ and _ they were the first androids to be released to the public back in the nineties! Everything we know about androids today?” Michael beamed, pointing back at the JER3 laying there unceremoniously for such praise. “It’s all thanks to _ these _ bad boys.”

The man stared, looking no less confused. “...So it’s an old robot?”

“It’s a robot _ from the nineties! _ ” Michael nearly exploded, his free hand waving around. “I never thought I’d see one in person! Oh man, this is just--!” Michael released the android’s hand just to clasp his own together, bouncing in place. _ So cool, so cool, sooo coool _ ! Forget Blinky and the scarf, nevermind to the Back to the Future stand from Universal Studios Japan, _this_ was without a doubt _ the best thing _ he _ ever _ found in Mr. Frank’s antique shop. Who would have thought he’d find one of the first publicly available androids in a closet in Metuchen New Jersey? _ God, thank you New Jersey for always being so damn weird. _

Mr. Frank watched Michael bounce in place and whistled to catch his attention. “You can take it if you want.”

Michael froze for a minute, then slowly looked over his shoulder with wide eyes. Like telling a kid they didn’t have to wait until Christmas to open their presents-- hopeful but with a little disbelief, praying it were true. “You mean it? Y-You’re just gonna let me take this?”

“Sure. That thing is basically scrap metal and I didn’t know it was here in the first place.”

Michael could have started crying on the spot. “You’re the _best_, Mr. Frank!” He cheered. He wanted to grab the android and run but due to it’s poor state Michael had enough brain power to deem that as a bad decision. Wouldn't to turn it into more of a mess. With shaky hands he grabbed it’s torso and carefully lifted it out from the mess it had been buried under. 

It was heavier than Michael anticipated but he wasn’t about to let that stop him. He managed to scoop up the cassette box and tuck it back into the portable fashion show box where he found it. No time for cassettes when he had a _real android_ in his arms. “How -_ugh_\- how much do I owe you for it?” Michael grunted, shifting the disemboweled JER3 around his arms. 

Mr. Frank took a step back in the doorway to give Michael some room and shook his head. “No, that won’t be necessary. You’re so excited about it I can’t possibly charge you. And you’re doing me a favor by taking it off my hands. That’s enough, Mikey.”

Michael wheezed, “You’re the best. Have I ever told you that? You are the best, Mr. Frank.”

He chuckled back, waving off the sentiment. “Just keep coming back, kiddo.”

“Oh, I will!” Michael nodded, side stepping around Mr. Frank. “Thanks again!” He called as he navigated through the shop, careful to avoid JER3’s arms accidentally smacking anything. “Seriously, _ thank yooou! _” Michael yelled one last time as the door slammed shut behind him.

Michael parked his PT Cruiser on the street in front of the store so he didn’t have a long walk to a parking lot. Which he was thankful for since holding an android for this long was starting to hurt. He fumbled with his keys to unlock the door then carefully set the JER3 down in the passenger seat. He buckled it up too, _obviously_ wouldn’t want his android to go flying out the window like a crash dummy, though found some minor difficulty with it being just a torso. And no waist for the seatbelt to slide across. Still Michael managed and he felt he properly secured the JER3 in place.

He got into the drivers seat and took a moment to withdraw his phone, opening the camera and setting it to selfie mode. Michael angled himself around so the JER3 was the majority of the photo while Michaels eyes and forehead were the only visible part of him. Then he opened his group chat with the rest of the squad and sent his selfie with his new treasure off.

Michael: [image]  
Michael: GUESS WHO GOT A MOTHERFUCKING ANDROID!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chloe: what the fuck is that

Michael: its a motherfucking andrroid cant you READ

Chloe: thats a heap of junk but go off i guess

Rich: LMAO IF THATS AN ANDROID YOU GOT SCAMMED

Michael: I DIDNT PAY A DIME FOR THIS BEAUTY 

Christine: im like ??? concerned for this android? what happened here. who hurt you  
Brooke: omg ive never seen an androids like……...skeleton before its super freaky

Michael: thank you chrissy youre the only real one here

Jenna: is that a JER3?

Michael: THANK YOU JENNA YOURE THE ONLY REAL ONE HERE

Jake: hey anyone wanna hang out rn

Rich: LMFAO JAKE  
Jake: what  
Rich: read up ^^^  
Michael: no hes right We’re all meeting up at jakes so i can introduce you to our new friend

Message _ sent _ and Michael tucked his phone away. He started his car up and took another look at the JER3 next to him. It really was in unfortunate state, some of the wires in its neck were disconnected from the head and looked like it’s head could snap off, but Michael wanted to remain optimistic. Androids were as normal as self checkouts at the grocery store (but better because you didn't need to check out, they could pay wirelessly) or an Alexa in your home (but better because they could add to your shopping list and fetch the groceries for you), so there had to be repairs tips online somewhere. It might look sad now but Michael had a feeling-- a good feeling. 

“Don’t worry, Jere,” Michael said aloud even though the android definitely couldn’t hear him. “We’ll patch you up. I promise. They’re all gonna love you, I know it. Maybe not right now, and they might be a little rough around the edges but who isn’t, y’know?” He reached over and gave it a pat on the shoulder as he switched his car into drive. 

“Trust me, buddy, I’ve got your back.”

Michael sped off to Jake’s house, eager to show off their new friend.


	2. we're frankensteining this android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a brief moment of consideration before everyone in the group got out their phones. Michael opened Youtube and punched in 'DIY android repair'. The first result was titled ‘HOW TO REPAIR ANY ANDROID THAT WON’T TURN ON’ and was uploaded in 2014. The second said ‘Android Factory Reset Repair’ from a year ago. The list continued with similar results. Some about replacing specific parts, some about rewiring areas, and so on.

Nobody in their friend group knew how Jake managed to keep his house so well kept despite being no stranger to parties (every so often a conversation would start with ‘_ You remember Halloween? _’ and bring about a chorus of groans, eventually delving into a trip down memory). Jake always shrugged it off but with a dirty android propped up on pristine red couch cushions Michael suddenly felt very self conscious about tracking grime into such a tidy place. 

Jake’s living room had two couches set up in an L shape with a coffee table in the middle. Michael deposited the JER3 in the center so everyone would be able to bask in its glory. But there was less basking than he hoped for and a lot more confused and pitiable stares. He supposed he couldn’t blame them, he was awfully confused when he first saw JER3 too, it wasn’t often you ran into a deactivated android. From twenty years ago. Covered in dirt and dust. ..._ Yeah _, their reactions made perfect sense now that he thought about it.

Christine, however, plopped down beside it and went about inspecting it like unearthed treasure (in Michael’s expert opinion it _ was _ ). Her brown eyes wide with intrigue. “And you just _ found _ this in a storage closet?” She asked, poking the JER3 in the cheek then recoiled like it would react.

“Yeah. Mr. Frank didn’t know where it came from,” Michael nodded and took a seat on the opposite side of the JER3. “It’s cool, right?”

Chloe huffed from the far end of the couch, her legs kicked up on the coffee table. “I dunno if cool is the right word. I think disgusting is a better fit.”

“_ So _ gross,” Brooke chimed in beside her, stirring her straw around her bubble tea.

Yeesh, the least they could do was pretend to be excited for his sake. Talk about a buzzkill. Michael grimaced. “It’s not _ gross _, Brooke.” 

Her straw came to a halt, her mouth dropping open incredulously. “Whu-- Chloe said it was disgusting first!”

“It’s not disgusting either, Chloe,” Michael added. He sighed and dramatically leaned back into the couch. “You wound me. To think I was gonna get you a scarf.”

“A scarf would’ve been better than this tin can,” Chloe grumbled. She rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, much more interested in that than the old robot. Brooke stayed silent aside from slurping up the remains of her tapioca. 

Jenna watched the conversation unfold and when it was clear Chloe had no further interest she turned back to the JER3. “So, like … These things are super old, right?” She said and withdrew her hot pink phone, likely Googling the history of JER3’s. “I think we had one when I was really little. _ I think _.”

Michael perked up a bit, adjusting his glasses. “Oh, shit, _ really? _ What was it like?”

She kept scrolling and shrugged, barely pausing to flip her half-purple hair over her shoulder. “I think it was kinda shitty. Not like--” Jenna nodded to the broken android. “--like _ that _ shitty, it still had its legs, obvs. But I really don’t remember a lotta details.”

“But like... Shitty _ how _?” Michael pressed, crossing his arms on his knees and leaning forward. He didn’t know too much about JER3s beyond that they laid the foundation for the androids of today. “They’re from Japan. How’d you get a hold of one?”

Jenna pursed her lips and set her phone down in her lap. She gazed up at the ceiling with a light hum. “I_ feeeeel liiiiike _ … it would short circuit and it stressed Mom out a lot. Or it would, like… turn off in the middle of something? It wasn’t very advanced, I think you needed a dial-up to do _ anything _ with the internet. But what _ didn’t _ use a dial-up back then, y’know?” She shrugged again, palms raised. “And I’ve _ no idea _ how we got it. Maybe Dad imported it, beats me. Maybe it just showed up like this one in the closet.”

Despite Jenna claiming she didn’t remember a lot Michael thought it was helpful. His own knowledge was limited so to hear they were faulty was intriguing. He chalked that up to the technology of the times but it was worth remembering in case JER3 broke down again.

Rich, who weaseled himself into a space behind the sofa to check out the wires in it’s neck, finally spoke up. “Jesus, Michael, you’re lucky this thing’s head didn’t fall off. It’s barely hanging on in there.” He poked some of the stray wires sticking out from the base of it’s skull. But, as if to spite them, as soon as he did the android’s head dislodged and shifted forward. Christine squeaked and drew back, her fists clenched and raised in defense. Rich hissed and grabbed it’s head, holding it back in place. “_ Fuck _, sorry, I didn’t--”

Michael’s stomach twisted in fear and agitation. Fear for the sake of the android’s poor head tumbling off and agitation that nobody was taking this seriously. He shifted in place to try and set JER3’s head back in order. Though with Rich holding on and Michael moving it around they seemed to be doing more harm than good. There was an unpleasant scraping noise inside and Michael felt his heart drop. “Rich, _ stop _ , let _ go _!”

Immediately Rich drew back like he had been burned, holding his hands high and away from the android. His lips pressed into a thin line, hesitant to speak but he mumbled, “Sorry, man.”

Michael quick waved one hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” He breathed, rising up onto his knees as he gingerly inched it’s head around. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”

Christine looked between the two boys then mimicked Michael and got up on her knees. “Here, let me-” she started, craning her neck around to get a good look at the base of the android’s skull. “-Okay, like two centimeters to the left. … Yeah, now just a smidge back-- No, towards me. Yeah, that’s good.”

_ Click! _

Michael held his hands in place for a few seconds before tentatively releasing it’s head. He and Christine both held their breath, half waiting for it’s head to slide right off, but it never happened. They both breathed a sigh of relief and Michael raised a fist as he collapsed back into the cushions. “Thanks, Chrissy.”

She gave him a little fist bump and drew her hand back with added flourish, making a little _ ‘boom!’ _ noise. “No problem.”

Michael reached around and held his fist out for Rich too. “Sorry for yelling again, man.”

Rich bumped him back, but with less flourish and noise than Christine. “It’s cool. I mean I almost broke it. Not that it can get much worse but, y’know. ...Whatcha call us all here for anyway?”

Jake sat down on the arm of the sofa, chiming in. “Yeah, if you wanted an android so bad we coulda hooked you up or something.”

Oh, right. He forgot about explaining that. Michael let out a little, “Uhhh, well,” and grinned sheepishly. He sat forward and clasped his hands together. “I was _ kiiinda _ hoping you guys would help me repair it, _ hahah _…”

He didn’t expect much. But Chloe immediately scoffing? Yeah, that much Michael anticipated. She didn’t even take her eyes off her phone. “Yeah, why don’t we build a rocket while we’re at it.”

Jake rubbed his neck, like he was mulling it over. “I mean, I’m down to help, but I don’t know jack about robotics, bro.”

_ Now _ Chloe looked up, renewed interest in her eyes. “Yeah, _ same _ , like I’ve never tried it before but there’s a first for everything.” She elbowed Brooke with an uncharacteristically big smile. “ _ Right, _ Brooke?”

Brooke nearly choked on her tapioca, spitting it back into the straw. She smiled just as wide as Chloe but the strain was clearly there. “Uh, yeah! Definitely, totally, would love to.” But as soon as the words left her mouth her smile fell and she grimaced, rubbing her ribcage with a silent ‘_ ow’ _.

Michael waved his hands around. “No, no, you don’t need to know anything. I don’t,” he admitted, “But I still wanna try. There’s gotta be like… DIY shit for androids, yeah?”

There was a brief moment of consideration before everyone in the group got out their phones. Michael opened Youtube and punched in _ DIY android repair _ . The first result was titled _ ‘HOW TO REPAIR ANY ANDROID THAT WON’T TURN ON’ _ and was uploaded in 2014. The second said _ ‘Android Factory Reset Repair’ _ from a year ago. The list continued with similar results. Some about replacing specific parts, some about rewiring areas, and so on.

Christine whistled, “_ Wow _ , that’s a heckuva lot of articles just for putting hair on it. I’m thinking brunet. Or is that too normal? What if we gave it blue hair? Do we even want an android with crazy hair? Maybe we should ask it what it wants whenever we can turn it on. Who knows, maybe it _ wants _ to be brunet. I have a cousin who wanted to be brunette even though her hair was black and there’s just no reasonable way to dye that without bleach--”

Jenna raised her hand, interrupting Christine. “Yeah, I’m getting a lot of different cosmetic stuff so that seems doable but like… This is gonna be expensive as _ fuck, _ Michael.”

“Yeah, listen,” Jake said. “Why does it have to be _ this _ android? They got payment plans for ‘em if you don’t wanna drop a grand all at once. It’d probably be cheaper to buy a new model than foot the bill for all--” he gestured widely to the JER3. “-- _ this _.”

Michael grimaced and shook his head. “I don’t want a _ new _ android, I don’t care about those.” He motioned with his hands like that would help get his point across. “I just think the JER3s are-- cool, y’know? They’re-- They’re like crystal pepsi!”

Rich snorted. “Expired?”

“Better with age.”

“I’m preeetty sure drinking expired soda will fuck with your stomach.”

“I’m still kicking.”

Jake inhaled, still trying to wrap his head around Michael’s logic. “So… you _ don’t _ care about having an android… you just want this _ one _ discontinued model from Nineteen-ninety-fuck-off?”

Michael shrugged. “Yeah, basically. I’ve been siked about this all afternoon, guys, can you atleast- I dunno- be a little happy for me?”

The first to speak was Jenna. “I _ am _ happy for you, Michael, I guess I’m just not as into robots to get on the hype train but I can try to help.” She picked her phone back up and resumed scrolling and tapping away, signaling that she said her peace.

Rich clapped Michael on the shoulder twice. “I might be able to get some tips from my brother. He used to fuck around and make custom android parts for money. Shit actually worked too.”

Knowing what Rich’s brother was like he could only imagine what ‘custom parts’ really meant. Probably something really dirty like fuckable robots. Stilll Michael considered this, chewing on his lip. “Could he make it run on Mountain Dew?”

“Fuckin’ probably.”

“Cool, you’re hired,” Michael said and gave him an awkward high five due to their positioning.

“Yeah, I can ask around the robotics club,” Jake interjected. “I still know some people from when I was in it. Maybe someone knows somethin’. But I got your back, homeslice,” he shot a fingergun and flashed a smile befitting that of the most popular guy in school. A little part itched away at Michael wondering why the most popular people were all_ still _ friends with _ him _ but he shoved it aside. 

“I didn’t know you took robotics,” Christine said.

The smile turned awkward very quickly, waving her off. “I really didn’t, it was only for a month maybe.”

“Well!” Chloe interrupted, crossing her legs and planting them on the carpet. “We all know how you like to _ try new things _ .” _ Clap-Clap-Clap. _ “So is that what we’re trying next?” She pressed her palms together. “Robotics? Cool, let’s do it then.” 

Now the smile disappeared completely. “Chlo, if this is about-”

“Not at all!” She sounded cheery but if she pressed her palms any further the force might break her hands. Chloe fixated her stone eyes to Michael. “I’m here to support _ you _ , Michael, and whatever _ you _ want to do.”

Michael smiled back. “You literally called it disgusting a few minutes ago.”

“That was then, this is now. Do you want my fucking help or not?”

“Well if you’re being so _ nice _ and offering, sure.”

“Great!” She finally ripped her hands apart and clapped them onto her knees. “Isn’t that great, Brooke?”

Brooke chewed on her straw and nodded. “So great.” Michael noticed her hug one arm tight over her ribcage.

“So we’re all settled then?” Christine said, looking at everyone individually as if mentally confirming their stance on the matter. “We’re gonna try to rebuild JER3 from scratch?”

“For Michael,” Jake added.

“Rebuild JER3 for Michael!” Christine announced, pumping one fist into the air (and narrowly missed hitting Jake). “We don’t know what we’re doing but it’s gonna be_ awesome! _” Her voice dropped an entire octave as she punched the air a few times.

Michael couldn’t help but laugh. He reached over JER3 to give her a playful shove. “You don’t have to go that far. But thanks guys. I don’t think I could do this on my own.”

“You definitely couldn’t,” Rich teased.

“Wow, thanks. Bitch.”

Rich clicked his tongue and winked. Michael decided not to deign that with a response and ignored it completely. “So I’ll probably Google how to do basic repairs and then we can work out whos doing what once I figure out what needs to be done.” Michael gave JER3 a light pat on the shoulder, worried it’s arm might fall off if he applied any more pressure. “And it needs a loooot of work.”

They talked about JER3 for a few more minutes before the topic devolved. They spent the rest of the day at Jake’s house until Christine said she had to go home for dinner. Jenna offered her a ride back and slowly everyone began trickling out. Michael was in the process of lugging JER3 back to his car when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Brooke stood there clutching her car keys tightly. Chloe was still lingering in Jake’s doorway, probably flirting or pestering him about their history together. “Hey.”

“Uh, hey,” Michael said, eyes flickering between her and Chloe. “What’s up?”

She pursed her lips and aimlessly scuffed at the ground in her teal converse. “Nothing really, I’m just,” she fumbled, messing with some of the keyrings attached to the car keys. “Sorry for calling it gross earlier.”

Oh. That was all? Michael shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I know-”

“No, that’s not- I don’t _ actually _ think it’s gross,” She mumbled, glancing between the ground and the android. “I’m actually kind of excited about this. Like, I don’t think I’ll do a good job or anything but it made you really happy sooo… y’know, I just..” She shrugged and brushed her hair behind her ear. “If you were so excited it must be fun, I guess. But whenever Chloe is...”

_ Oh _ . That’s _ not _all. In fact it was a lot sweeter than he thought. “Hey, Brooke, it’s really okay. I know you and Chloe are kinda--” He shrugged widely, the best he could do with both his hands occupied with JER3 and his car keys. “--y’got stuff going on. Do you wanna talk about it?”

Brooke wrinkled her nose up and shook her head, scattering the hair out from behind her ear. “Not right now. Maybe one day but thanks for understanding.” She said and booped him on the nose. “You’re sweet, Mikey.”

“_ Broooke _ ,” Michael whined, turning away from the _ utter assault _ to his person. _ Again _ with the nicknames today. 

She giggled. “Okay, sorry! Here, lemme get this for you,” she said and rounded about Michael to open his passenger door. “Yours arms are full.”

“Oh- thanks,” Michael mumbled and set JER3 down. He gave his arms a little stretch and turned back to Brooke. “See you tomorrow then?”

“Tomorrow. G’night Mikey. G’night Jere-bear!” Brooke laughed and waved at the two of them and left for her own car with Chloe already halfway there.

Michael watched as they both piled in and the headlights came on as her car started up. Brooke waved at him from the steering wheel and Chloe stuck her tongue out, though Michael did see her laugh so nice to know it wasn’t an antagonistic gesture. They pulled away and Michael got into his own car once JER3 was buckled safely. He let out a long exhale, leaning his head back against the headrest.

“_ ...Jere-bear…? _”

* * *

_ Click! _

A series of overhead lights turn on at once. Michael picked his head up to see Christine in the doorway, posing dramatically as she still had one hand on the light switch. She threw her head back and spoke a whole octave lower. “So let us now proceed to attempt one of the most daring and radical experiments in the history of medical science.” She gasped and leaned back against the door frame. Her leg popped up and kept rising as she spoke. “The storm is above us! We must hurry. To your stations!” Christine threw out her arm and stomped her foot back down while pointing at Michael. “Igor!”

‘Igor’ stood there silently, looking over his shoulder as if someone else might be there and answer her, but they were alone in her garage and she was obviously referring to him. So Michael played along and cracked a smile, hunching forward to really sell it, “_ Yes, Master? _” He answered, trying to do his best Marty Feldman impression.

Christine gestured widely to the ceiling, lunging forward. “The generator! Release the safety valve on the main wheel!” She rolled her shoulders and turned her hands in a circular motion making various thunder sound effects. Then she rushed over to the foldout table next to Michael and slapped her hands down beside the android laying there (which had been sufficiently scrubbed and wiped off. It was still in a sorry state but now that state didn’t include dust and grime). “Now we hurl the gauntlet of science into _ the frightful face of Death itself! _” Her voice grew in a crescendo until her voice was projecting off the garage walls.

Michael waited to see if she was done with her spiel or if she suddenly needed Igor again. But she didn’t burst into song or a monologue so Michael straightened up and gave her a little applause. “Did I really have to wait in the dark for that, Chrissy?”

“Of course!” She chirped. “Frederick needed to make a grand entrance!”

“Why am I Igor, though?”

“Why not? It’s a great role.”

“Yeah but it was my idea to repair JER3 so shouldn’t that make me Gene Wilder?”

Christine waved him off. “We’re all Frankensteining JER3 back together, we can each take turns being Roger Bart.”

Fair enough. Michael stuffed his hands into his pockets and focused his attention back on the android. “So what’s on the agenda today?”

“_ Oh! _ Right!” Christine darted over to a corner in the garage with a work bench and pulled out a tool box. “Grab a box cutter, Igor,” she called and skipped back over. She dropped the tool box onto the table then kicked a much larger box out from under the foldout table toward Michael. It was still sealed shut with tape and had a shipping label stuck to the front. “Our monster’s parts arrived today!”

Monster parts? She couldn’t mean- “Oh shit!” He gasped and crouched down in front of the package. The tape read ‘_ VeriCo _’as in the corporation heading android development for… well, since JER3 units. “No way, already? Why didn’t you tell me that first?” 

“Presentation!” Christine cracked open the tool box and then took to her phone, pulling open a tutorial. She hummed and mumbled something to herself, glancing between her phone and the tool box before cherry picking each instrument.

After a bit of digging around forums, discussion pages, and some shady sites they discovered VeriCo will send out replacement parts if one sent them a corresponding serial number. And weren’t they lucky to find a whole masterlist of serial numbers for different versions and models of androids! Not including the JER3s, unfortunately, but through a lot of research and error they did manage to piece together what parts would be compatible. Michael could only imagine the amount of people scamming VeriCo for free parts but he wasn’t about to tell them to change their business practice. JER3 relied on this _ plus _ they were also a billion dollar corporation so clearly they were doing something right. Regardless of the free parts. 

“What’s it say to do about all the wires?” Michael asked offhandedly, tearing apart the tape and opening the box. Immediately he was greeted with a bunch of packing peanuts. _ Must.. resist the urge to start throwing them... _ “Like, the ones in it’s torso that look like they were hacksawed.”

Christine hummed. “Well, uh, see,” she started awkwardly. “I looked that up and if the wires are cut there’s kiiiinda no chance for us to salvage them. At least not without the other halves that got cut off. Sooo I just ordered us a new torso.”

Michael pouted but he could see where she was coming from. In fact he figured it would come to that. He dug through the packing peanuts only to discover a styrofoam lid about the same size as the box. Shoving peanuts aside, and scattering them to the cement floor, Michael picked the lid back and let out a low whistle. “Jesus Christ, what _ didn’t _ you order?”

All the parts were embedded within the styrofoam although it looked like Christine ordered the entire skeleton. Sleek and shiny silver plates contrasted against black fabric joints. Or rather the joints, neck, waist, and space between the thighs and hips were wrapped in black fabric. No doubt concealing all kinds of inner workings that Michael couldn’t begin to comprehend. But also likely for ease of movement. It would probably be hard to function if your joints were metal plates.

She peeked over the table and smiled proudly. “The head. They wouldn’t just send me an _ entire _ android, Michael.” She waved around a wrench for emphasis. “‘Sides, you kinda need the head for the whole android to work.” With that she popped back to her tool box.

Sure VeriCo won’t send an entire android for free but they’ll send the entire body for free. Made about as much sense as everything else. Michael half wondered how much they could make selling these parts but he shoved the thought aside.

“Okay, so… basically what we’re doing iiisss….” He started, catching a glimpse of Christine from his angle on the floor.

“According to this,” she said, “We’re gonna remove JER3’s head and attach it to the neck. The new neck. I’ve got directions for that here but there might be some differences since it’s such an old model. But then we just attach everything else as the instructions say to do. There _ should _ be instructions. Hopefully. There’s instructions in the box, right?”

“Uhhh,” Michael glanced around the mess he made of packing peanuts for any kind of paper. He found it stuck between the cardboard and styrofoam. At a quick glance he could see some assembly instructions so he gave a thumbs up above his head so Christine could see. “Located instructions, Master Frankenstein.”

“Cool. If that’s taken care of,” Christine peeked over the edge again, holding a bunch of tools up in between each finger and she grinned like a mad scientist. “Together, you and I are going to make the greatest single contribution to science since the creation of fire!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hewwo i actually have an art reference for robot jeremy but i’ll link it when hes actually repaired so nobody gets spoiled :)
> 
> -VeriCo is taken from the be more chill book, kinda. The book mentions something called VeriChip and I just stole the Veri for the big android company name. I was thinking about using Sony, since in the book its implied Sony is developing squips, but i decided against it since the squip will be relevant later.
> 
> -i wrote this with the broadway cast in mind but im not gonna stop you from imagining whatever cast you want.
> 
> -one time my friend used my laptops serial number to get a free version of windows 10 from microsoft for his windows 8 computer so thats literally where i got the serial number thing from lmao
> 
> -could a bunch of dumbass millennials actually frankenstein a robot back together? i dont know but its fanfiction, suspend your disbelief and pray they have a braincell to be able to pull this off.


	3. build our android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JER3s debuted in 1995 so Michael supposed he should be grateful textbooks went as far back as 1998. But why not include JER3s? What was the point of leaving them out if they were going to mention androids a few years apart? They were the first publicly available androids, that alone is a technological feat. Even if what Jenna said was right and they were faulty it doesn’t discount the mark it left for android development.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took me awhile to write because i dont know how to write jake or chloe

As much as Michael wanted to play  _ Apocalypse of the Damned,  _ Rich insisted that they play  _ Smash Ultimate _ instead. Michael wasn’t complaining about the choice of game. He nearly had the entire roster unlocked and genuinely enjoyed playing Smash; he just wished Rich would play without constantly checking his phone in between rounds.

The two settled into the beanbags in Michael’s basement, a bowl of Cheetos between them. While Rich didn’t seem to care about getting Cheeto dust on the remotes, Michael wiped his hands off on his hoodie to keep them clean. He didn’t pay $300 to get remotes covered in cheetle! There was a perfectly fine sofa behind them but it wasn’t the same as sprawling out on beany goodness in front of a flat screen TV. JER3 occupied the sofa instead now that it had an actual moveable and poseable body—though it didn’t look half as comfortable as Michael and Rich. The new body parts were a little stiff but Michael hoped it would loosen up whenever it reactivated. 

_ If _ it ever reactivated. 

He wasn’t going to think about that now. Michael selected a random stage and the game transitioned to the roster. The Announcer’s voice boomed from the speakers, “ _ Timed Battle! … Meta Knight! _ ” 

Popping a Cheeto into his mouth Michael didn’t even have to look to know Rich was on his phone. He had been doing this ever since he got to Michael’s house. It was fine earlier, Michael assumed something came up and he didn’t want to talk about it, but for the past  _ two hours _ ? And during a game he  _ specifically _ wanted to play? If Rich didn’t want to play Smash he could have let Michael play Apocalypse while he checked his phone.

“ _ Ri _ -ich,” Michael sang. He aggressively tapped the button to select and deselect Meta Knight on the roster so the Announcer kept repeating his name. “You gotta  _ pi _ -ick.”

Rich cursed under his breath and stashed his phone away (a segment in the cycle he had been repeating all night). “Shit, sorry, dude.  _ Uhhhhfuck _ I’ll be Snake,” he said just as the Announcer chimed in with Snake’s name. 

“It’s fine, just-- if you don’t wanna play you don’t have to,” Michael pointed out as their battle commenced. 

The Announcer began, “ _ Three! _ ”

“No, I do wanna play- God I hate this stupid train stage- I just…”

“ _ Two! _ ”

Michael glanced at him. “Just what?”

“ _ One! _ ”

The two immediately jumped into action. Rich’s cheetle covered fingers went to town on the remotes and Michael did the same. But just because the fighting started didn’t mean that their conversation was over. Rich chewed on his lip while focusing on their game. Michael knew that little look on his face all too well. He was thinking hard about something. Michael figured he would probably spill the beans if he gave him a little poke.

“If you don’t wanna tell me…” Michael started, but Rich was quick to interject.

“I do! I do, man, I just-- I thought like…  _ Maybe _ it could be a surprise,” He trailed off into a grumble. Snake disappeared into his box just as Meta Knight took a stab at him.

Surprise? Consider him intrigued. “Oh, hey, if it’s a surprise you don’t have to--”

“Nah, it’s not really like that. It’s about robot boy back there.” Rich jerked his head back toward JER3.

“Wh- boy?” Michael repeated, baffled, stealing a confused look to Rich. Rich took advantage of the momentary weakness and sent Meta Knight flying. Michael quickly recovered, mashing buttons to fly Meta Knight back onto the train. “It’s not a boy. It’s… it’s an android.”

Rich snorted. “Okay. It’s about robot kid back there.”

“Thank you.”

Rich grabbed a handful of Cheetos from the bowl and crammed them all in his mouth while the ones that didn’t make it fell onto his stomach. “But anyway,” He munched. “I don’t know if it’ll actually work so I didn’t wanna get your hopes up. But I guess I’ll just tell you.”

“You don’t have to if you still wanna keep it a surpri-  _ Smash ball! _ ” Michael lurched forward, suddenly pressing with a lot more intensity for the little sphere hovering around the screen. Meta Knight made a mad dash while Snake followed at a slower pace. Likely due to Rich’s other hand in the Cheeto bowl.

Needless to say Meta Knight got the final smash. The Announcer declared Meta Knight victorious while Snake clapped respectfully (Michael always wondered which of the characters were genuinely happy for the winner and which were sore losers; he didn’t know where Snake landed in that spectrum). 

Rich let out a heavy sigh and sank further into the beanbag. He dropped his remotes onto the carpet beside him and leaned his head back. “How are you so good at this game? I thought you only played old school shit.”

“I drink Mountain Dew,” Michael quipped with a grin. “It gives me  _ gamer powers _ .” He waggled his fingers for emphasis.

Rich clicked his tongue and withdrew his phone. “Yeah, abooout that,” he mumbled, unlocking it.

The surprise was Mountain Dew? Unless it was a discontinued flavor Michael didn’t see how that could be a surprise. Still he shifted around on the beanbag and deposited his remotes next to the Cheeto bowl. “What’s up?” He asked and tossed a Cheeto into the air to catch in his mouth. It bounced off his glasses.

“So like,” Rich said as he scrolled through his phone. “Y’know the ending of  _ Back to the Future _ ? When Doc is throwing trash in the Mr. Fusion?”

Michael nodded, trying again to catch the Cheeto in his mouth. It bounced off his lip this time; an improvement. “Yeah, the Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor. I’ve got a car charger version.”

“Right, right,” Rich nodded and sat up, eyes glued to his phone as he finally stopped scrolling. “See I thought ‘what if we did the same to robot kid?’”

“...You want JER3 to run on  _ trash _ ?”

“No, nono, not exactly,” Rich waved one hand around while the other gripped his phone. “When you brought it over to Jake’s house you joked about making it run on Mountain Dew. And I got talkin’ to my brother about it-- I joked about it with him too but then he like…” Rich glanced at his phone then handed it off to Michael. “He actually drew up a pretty legit plan for JER3 to convert Mountain Dew to power.”

Michael’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “No way.” He snatched Rich’s phone and skimmed through the chatlog between Rich and Gerard. Soon he came to a hastily drawn sketch and diagram of what Michael assumed was the ‘pretty legit plan’ Rich referred to. The sketch showed a torso with a hole through its chest, then another sketch detailing the necessary parts and gizmos that would fill the hole to convert the Mountain Dew. Michael studied it for a minute then skimmed through the rest of the conversation for any explanation for the diagram.

Everything went over his head but it  _ sounded _ like a Mr. Fusion. Converting something into energy. Only they weren’t powering a time-traveling DeLorean. They were powering an android.

“Holy shit,” Michael whispered, utterly mesmerized. 

Rich nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah.”

“ _ Holy shit! _ ” 

“ _ Yeah! _ ”

“Rich, this is  _ amazing _ !” Michael broke out into a grin, handing the phone back. “I was just joking but- the fact this could be _ real? _ That’s insane!”

Rich couldn’t help but smile along, waving his hands. “I know, man! He’s totally willing to help us out too. He said he could get a better idea if he got a look at Jere but I think we can do it. I mean, if you still want to.” 

“Yeah, of course I still want to!” Michael laughed and gave Rich a playful shove. “Like, I’d basically have my own Mr. Fusion. A real one, not the car charger.” His smile turned genuine and his hand rested on Rich’s shoulder. “Thanks for doing this for me, man. It means a lot.”

Something flickered in Rich’s expression. He swallowed and looked down at Michael’s hand, not meeting his gaze. “Y-Yeah, I mean, well…” Rich bit his lip. “You… mean a lot to me too, dude.”

Oh. 

_ ...Oh. _

Rich must have felt the shift in the air. He brushed Michael’s arm away and rubbed his neck. “Sorry, I just made it  _ really _ weird, didn’t I?”

Michael tried to wave it off, his smile only faltering a little. “Nah, not at all. You’re my friend, you mean a lot to me too, Rich.”

There was a pause. Rich looked like he wanted to say something and was weighing whether or not to say it. Michael watched him for a moment but since he was avoiding eye contact he thought it best not to press. 

Instead he picked up remotes again and gestured to the TV. “Wanna go another round? Or call it quits?”

Finally Rich looked up, though it seemed he barely registered the question. “Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“...Rich?”

He sighed through his nose, giving in to whatever argument was playing through his head. He pursed his lips into a thin line then they parted with a hesitant breath. “Do you ever … think about  _ us _ ?”

That went  _ exactly _ where Michael thought it was going. His stomach did somersaults and his brain screamed ‘ _ Abort! Abort! _ ’ amid other sirens blaring. Michael swallowed dryly and flexed his fingers in and out of fists. ‘ _ Sometimes’ _ , was right on the tip of his tongue. Only that’s not what came out. 

“It’s a little weird now.”

Rich raised both hands in defense and rolled his shoulders back while his head hung low. “Okay, yeah, sorry.”

“No, dude, really it’s-”

“We can call it quits.” Rich brushed his fingers off on his shirt and stood up. “I’ll head home.”

Michael looked to the clock next to the TV. 7:45. His stomach twisted but not from panic this time. “But it’s not nine yet.”

His dad usually passed out by nine.

Rich smiled thinly. “Yeah.”

His Dad usually drank all day.

Weirdness or not, Michael wasn’t about to let him go home if his Dad was still awake. He shook his head and got to his feet too. “Oh no you don’t,” he said and stood in front of Rich with his arms out in a T pose. “You’re spending the night.”

The ridiculousness of the T pose seemed to alleviate some of the tense air. Rich snorted and looked past Michael like he was going to try and side step his friend. “C’mon, it’s fine. It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

Michael frowned. “Doesn’t mean you should!”

“Michael, it’s fine, hone-”

Before Rich could get another word out Michael scrambled to the stairs and yelled up into the kitchen, “Rich is staying the  _ niiight! _ ”

It sounded like a metal spoon hit the floor. Followed by a swear. That’s  _ definitely _ not good but Michael didn’t have it in him to care. “Michael Mell I am almost done with dinner and you tell me this  _ now _ ?” Ina shouted back.

“Sooorry!” Michael laughed.

Rich poked his head out from behind Michael. “This is all his fault, Mrs. Mell!”

“Rich, you’ve never done anything wrong ever. Now both of you get up here and set the table for dinner,” Ina huffed, but there wasn’t any edge to her voice. Michael knew she was just teasing them.

Michael clapped Rich on the shoulder and stepped around him. “You head up, I’ll grab the Cheetos. Should I leave the Switch on?”

“Uh, yeah, alright,” Rich nodded, hesitating at the stairs. He had that same look on his face from before. Only this time he didn’t take as long to debate what to say. For someone as energetic as Rich his voice was unnaturally soft-- but in a sweet way. “...Thanks, Michael.”

He already had the Cheeto bowl in one hand and was picking up any fallen warriors off the ground but Michael smiled brightly. “Anytime, Rich.” Michael gave a thumbs up with his free hand. “What are friends for?”

Rich chuckled. “Yeah. Friends.” 

He went upstairs without another word but he didn’t have to say anything.

Michael got the message loud and clear.

* * *

When Jake answered the door he only opened it a smidge for his face to peek through. His eyes flickered to the side suspiciously before focusing on Michael. “You got the stuff?”

Michael shifted a can of compressed air out of a plastic bag, nodding deeply. “Oh yeah.”

“And nobody gave you any trouble?” Jake tested, peering past him.

“I had to shake off three cop cars,” Michael deadpanned. Said with such seriousness one might believe him if this weren’t a bit.

“Radical,” Jake said and opened the door all the way, shaking off the joke. “I started cracking open its head. Everything seems to be in order for now but I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

True to his word JER3 sat where the coffee table should have been in the living room. The table itself had been pushed aside to make room for the android. The back of the android’s head was open revealing all sorts of gizmos and tech Michael didn’t know  _ anything _ about. A bunch of books were all scattered open to random pages. A few tools sat on top of the books to keep them open to their respective pages.

Michael approached Jake’s setup and dropped the plastic bag on the sofa. “How bad is it in there?” He asked, readying the can and peering inside JER3’s robotic skull.

“Uhhh, what you’d expect from over ten years of sitting in a junk shop,” Jake said. He sat down behind the android and tilted its head so Michael could get a better look. “Just a lotta dust and more dust.”

That was the best way to describe it. When he and Christine were transferring its head onto the new body it felt like a pound of dust spilled out of its cranium and then some. They both coughed and sputtered but somehow found a way to laugh about it. Michael was glad he didn’t have any respiratory issues otherwise this sight would send him into an attack. 

Michael raised the can and its comically long straw up. “Get ready for a sandstorm.” He paused and raised his hoodie over his mouth and nose. “A  _ Darude sandstorm _ .”

Jake opened his mouth to speak, probably to tell Michael that joke wasn’t funny and hasn’t been funny in years, but Michael immediately started spraying. Instantly a plume of dust rose up and wafted into the air. Jake coughed and recoiled, shoving his nose into his shoulder. 

He spritzed for about a minute, and took an extra thirty seconds to shove the straw further inside its head for the tougher to reach areas, before pulling his hoodie down. “I think that’s the best we’re gonna get.”

Jake wrinkled his nose in disgust and sniffed. “Little more warning next time, bro.”

“Next time? You mean I’m gonna find another android in the next antique shop I visit?” Michael teased.

“If you do make sure it’s from this century,” Jake gestured to the books beside him. “The oldest models listed are TRA1s. Those are from, like… 1998 or some shit.”

JER3s debuted in 1995 so Michael supposed he should be grateful textbooks went as far back as 1998. But why  _ not _ include JER3s? What was the point of leaving them out if they were going to mention androids a few years apart? They were the first publicly available androids, that alone is a technological feat. Even if what Jenna said was right and they were faulty it doesn’t discount the mark it left for android development.

...Come to think of it, why wasn’t there  _ any _ information about JER3s? Michael assumed it just had to deal with being old and only being available for about a year (coupled with the whole importing them from Japan thing that was probably a headache in 1995). But nothing more than a model name and being the first accessible androids for a year was certainly strange.

He would think more about that later. There was a JER3 in front of him and if they managed to reactivate it then might be able to unravel the mystery.

“And you said everything’s in order?”

“I mean, I guess? Robots ain’t my thing, Michael.”

“Lemme see.” Michael reached across Jake for one of the textbooks, skimming the pages and flipping back and forth. Eventually he came to a diagram on the inner mechanics of a TRA1’s head. Michael pulled out his phone and opened the flashlight on it to compare. He didn’t know much more than Jake, in fact they probably knew about the same amount, but looking between the two models there were  _ some _ similarities. If he were doing a quick once over he would assume the parts were still intact and might still be operable upon reactivation.

But one thing stuck out to him in particular. TRA1 and JER3s had the same audio conductors. Only after glancing between the two enough times Michael realized JER3’s conductors were damaged. They were big and round devices like headphone speakers, only there were large cracks in them and the wires connecting them to the ‘brain’ (he didn’t know what to call the giant piece of machinery in the center) were severed.

His shoulders sagged and he lowered his phone light. “I think its ears are busted.”

“Damn, no joke?”

“Yeah, see?” Michael turned JER3’s head over so Jake could get a better look. “See those like… sphere things? They’re cracked. And the wires are connected to the brain but not to the ears.”

Jake squinted then nodded slowly. “I didn’t even notice the cracks. Good eye, man.”

“What are we gonna do about it? I don’t think we can repair its ears ourselves.” That kind of work was too fine and precise for a bunch of teenagers to fix. Sticking body parts together was one thing but repairing processors might be too much.

However Jake didn’t share the sentiment and shrugged his concerns away. “Just ask Gerard about it.”

Michael pursed his lips and sat down on the sofa, abandoning the textbook to the floor. “He’s already powering it with Mountain Dew, I can’t ask him to do this too.”

“...You’re doing  _ what? _ ” Jake raised an eyebrow, staring at Michael like he had three heads.

Michael couldn’t help but grin. “Pretty sweet, yeah?”

He stared a moment longer before breaking out into a smile, shaking his head. “Yeah, it’s rad. You’re a weird guy, y’know that?”

“Everyones a little weird deep down inside.” 

“ _ Eehhh _ okay, you got me there.”

“And what do  _ you _ do that’s weird?”

Jake gestured to the android in the middle of his living room. “Help you fix a robot from last century.”

“Mmmokay yeah, got  _ me  _ there.”

Jake leaned back on his palms. “Anyway, listen, just ask Gerard. You don’t have to repair it, just replace it. Take out the old parts and put in new ones. Hook it up to everything else. Boom! You’re pimping.”

‘Pimping’ definitely didn’t work for this scenario but Michael held his tongue. Instead he stewed over Jake’s suggestion. Would it be easier to replace than repair? Regardless they would have to go inside its head and avoid everything else going on in there. As far as Michael could tell the audio conductors were the only thing damaged, he didn’t want to add to that by accidentally poking a processor or chip or--  _ whatever.  _

It would probably be for the best to have Rich’s brother take a peek inside JER3’s head regardless. He knew more about how these things worked and how to proceed than any of them. Michael dug his phone out again and reached for JER3 to snap a photo. “I guess I can ask him to take a look,” Michael mumbled. He sent the image off to Rich to forward along to Gerard. “Thanks for helping me with all this, Jake.”

“No sweat, bro,” Jake fingergunned. “It’s nice having people over. Even if one of ‘ems an android.” His normally easygoing grin faltered just a touch. If Michael weren’t paying attention he might not have caught it. 

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, fingers interlocked while his head quirked to the side, concerned. “Jake are you sure you’re not, like… lonely or anything?” He asked, testing the waters. Everyone knew Jake’s parents fled the country but for the life of him Michael couldn’t figure out why none of his friends ever talked about it.

In his usual charming-popular-guy way Jake waved the question off and danced around the subject. “Nah, Rich usually crashes here when things get too rough at home. I told him he might as well move in but he said he didn’t wanna freeload. But he’s fun, and helps me forget they’re gone.”

Freeload. That was another thing Michael would have to ask Rich about later. Honestly it was a little terrifying how many of his friends were in scary situations yet nobody wanted to talk about it. Michael knew he was lucky to have such a warm, accepting home but it just made him want to help more when he saw that his friends didn’t have that.

Michael was quiet for a moment and Jake didn’t prompt him either. The air around them wasn’t thick or tense, and he didn’t get the impression that Jake was uncomfortable with the questions. He decided to wade a little deeper in. “...You haven’t heard from them?”

“Not… really,” Jake tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. A white fan circled slowly, not enough to scatter the dust from earlier around fortunately. Michael distantly recalled the fan being covered in streamers and whatever else teenagers could throw during the Halloween party. “They don’t wanna get caught.”

Michael exhaled and his shoulders sagged. “Seriously? Nobody in your family has heard from them?”

“Eehh,” Jake sighed. “My uncle tries to get in contact but he hasn’t heard shit. Dunno if he ever will.” The smile was lost now. He didn’t look upset, which was a relief to Michael, but rather a little guarded. Careful not to let anything slip.

“But your uncle still checks up on you, right?”

“Yeah, of course, he pays the bills for this place.”

“Okay, but…” Michael trailed off, a million different words all coming to mind. He tossed a few around but inevitably blurted out, “Do you wanna come over for dinner or-- something?”

Now the smile was back. Jake laughed and shifted himself around to face Michael from his spot on the floor. “What’s this all of a sudden, dude?”

Michael shrugged, unclasping his hands to plop them down on the cushions and drum quietly. “I figured it’s— … it’s been awhile since you last had a family dinner, I guess? My moms would be thrilled to have you. They adore you, they wish I did half the shit you do.”

Jake chuckled again, shaking his head. “Hah, yeah. I can do no wrong to them, huh?”

That was it. Now Michael was getting somewhere. There was something lying beneath the surface of those words and he was determined to make a difference. Maybe it wouldn’t be much but he wasn’t about to sit back and obey some unspoken rule to avoid his friends issues.

“It’s okay to do wrong sometimes, Jake.”

His gaze went back towards the ceiling, lips pulled into a thin line. “Yeah. … I guess.”

“Seriously,” Michael said and got off the sofa to sit next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Remember to breathe. You can’t be the best  _ all _ the time. Nobody can.” He gave him a little pat just for emphasis. “You’re doing good. Don’t be afraid to do bad.”

Michael didn’t get much of a response. Or  _ any _ response at that. The only indication Jake heard him were his eyes flickering over to meet Michael’s gaze before looking elsewhere entirely. Nothing verbal, nothing physical, and his expression stayed the same. Guarded. 

Perhaps he went too far. His hand retracted and Michael shifted away to give him space. “Anyway, just drop by whenever. My moms would be ecstatic. You know how they are.”

That got a response. Jake hummed and steadily got to his feet. “I’ll think on it. You’re a good dude, Michael.”

He gave him a thumbs up and leaned his back against the edge of the sofa. “Just offering some pearls of stoner wisdom, my dude.”

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a few more checks on JER3. When they deemed it good to go they moved it to the sofa and pushed the coffee table back into place. Michael helped Jake tidy up all the dust and books laying around. They both collapsed on the couch once everything was put away.

“Now what?” Jake said, stretching his arms above his head.

Michael shrugged, playing his hoodie drawstrings. “...Y’wanna get stoned and watch Star Wars?”

Jake looked at him like it was the best thing he said all day—better than his attempt at a pep talk. “Fuck yeah, I’ll get the surround sound going and everything. Yo, tell Rich to come over too, I keep telling him he needs to see the prequels.”

That evening the three of them would show up in each others Snapchats and Instagrams taking ridiculous selfies next to JER3, who they positioning to hold a joint in its inoperable mouth. 

* * *

“Welcome to my beauty vlog. Today I’m going to show you how to apply a facemask.”

Michael splayed his hands out dramatically with the skin intended for JER3 on his face. Chloe stood there with her arms crossed, unamused by his antics. He thought it was pretty funny, and if Rich were here he would be laughing and adding on.

Rich always laughed at his jokes. It was nice.

“God, why did I let you in here?” Chloe grumbled.

“‘Cause you’re the best person to ask about makeup!”

“This isn’t even makeup!”

“It’s  _ basically _ a facemask. Don’t you use that for skincare routines?”

Chloe stared at him with an unreadable expression then sighed and held her hand out. “Fine, hand it over.”

Gerard had been a lifesaver. He agreed to help repair JER3’s damaged audio conductors despite already working on the whole Mountain Dew thing. However there was no way to prevent the receiver from cracking on the inside again without a specific part so he had to fix the conductors on the exterior of JER3’s head. Instead of ears it looked like the android had headphones on. Michael was fine with it, he loved a good pair of headphones as much as the next guy. But that took care of any skull related issues so the next thing on their repair to-do list was to get it some skin.

Everyone quickly learned that getting a skin suit for an android was  _ incredibly expensive _ . Not to mention relatively uncommon since every android VeriCo built arrived with skin applied. They all agreed to have JER3 go without a suit if they could get one for the head. In fact, in a rare moment of generosity Chloe offered to shell out the money for it. Michael assured her she didn’t have to but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

So he ended up at Chloe’s house with  _ another _ box from VeriCo. The skin itself looked like a facemask anyone could pick up in the makeup department. Only instead of being big enough for a face it was enough to wrap around the entire head, sort of like a swim cap. In hindsight Michael was a little glad they only got a piece for the head. He didn’t want to imagine how frustrating it would be to put a full suit over an entire body. 

Michael peeled it off his face and slapped it into Chloe’s hands. Immediately she stiffened up and looked like she wanted to recoil, nearly dropping it. “Oh my  _ God _ that feels disgusting.”

“Yeah, it’s all squishy.”

“Eugh…” Chloe turned to the JER3. Chloe had a big house, if anything just a little smaller than Jake’s, so there were multiple rooms to hang out in but Chloe insisted they bring the android to the den. She didn’t want to bring Michael to her room and she wanted to stay out of her parent’s way (or answer why a couple of teenagers had an android). So JER3 sat in an office chair pulled away from it’s desk. Michael had half a mind to pose it for a joke. There was something  _ really _ funny about seeing a deactivated android with fresh parts from 2019 and a head from 1995 sitting like the most normal thing in the world.

She held the squishy mask up to JER3’s face and grimaced, glancing back at Michael. “How am I supposed to- do I just… put it on like a helmet or something?”

“I dunno.”

Chloe grit her teeth. “Well are there _ directions in the box _ ?”

Truth be told Michael hadn’t checked. As soon as he locked eyes with the fake skin all he wanted to do was start squeezing the weird fleshy blob. Just to see how it felt between his fingers. Like slime. Only less like the weird watery kind on Nickelodeon and more like the kind people made slime tutorials about. Not the slime tutorials Christine watched when she didn’t have enough to go into the city and see a show, those were  _ entirely _ different.

Chloe was staring daggers right through him.

Right. Directions.

Michael hopped back over to the box, which was much smaller than the one containing all the new body parts, and rifled through styrofoam and packing peanuts until he came to a small slip of paper. He let out a low whistle and adjusted his glasses. “Lessee-- to apply your android’s state of the art synthetic skin- wow, they’re really tootin’ their own horn, huh?- follow these instructions.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m  _ waiting for _ .”

“Step one: open the mask with your hands.”   
“I could’ve told you  _ that _ .”

“Step two: tilt your android’s head down.”

“Shouldn’t  _ that _ be step one?”

“Step three: start at the base of the skull and slowly pull the mask up and over the head, covering it entirely. Make sure to properly adjust around eye sockets, ears, and nose. Your mask should end where the chin and neck meet.”

“...I feel like that went from a one to a ten _ real _ fast.”

“No, that was step three.”

If Chloe could legally kill he had no doubt he would be dead right now. Her body tensed up, shoulders rigid, and she inhaled sharply. Michael was just terrified she would break the  _ very _ expensive piece of synthetic flesh in her grip. But for  _ once _ Chloe seemed to have enough restraint _ not  _ to break whatever was in her hands. 

She took a deep breath then released it slowly and relaxed. A bit of a surprise coming from her. Normally Chloe paced until her anger faded away. Clapping in time to her words or biting her fist. Michael witnessed plenty of her temper tantrums so the fact she was actively trying to calm down was a huge improvement.

He was glad he asked for Chloe’s help. She neatly tucked and poked the mask into its proper place where it looked like normal human skin. Michael had a feeling if he tried it would look like a misshapen blob on the poor androids face. Now JER3 looked a little less like an android and more like a bald person with their eyes perpetually closed in an android suit. Oddly enough though two thin lines etched into the metal of JER3’s skull showed through the skin but they both shrugged it off.

“Is that all you lugged this piece of junk over here for?” Chloe asked, wiping her hands off on her pants with a scowl. “God that was _ literally _ disgusting. You owe me for this.”

“It wasn’t  _ thaaat _ weird,” Michael said and crouched over the box again. “Yeah, we just gotta put its hair on now.”

Chloe huffed, “If it says to open the wig with my hands I’m gonna-”

“Go feral?”

“-lose  _ my _ wig but sure. Is it in there or what?”

As if on cue Michael procured a plastic bag with the aforementioned hair piece inside. Much like skin suits the hair also came already on the android when ordered. But unlike skin suits it was common to order a hair piece separately. Changing the hair on an android was easy and they found plenty of tutorials for the process. Fortunately they were also  _ a lot _ cheaper than skin suits. 

Inside the bag was a short brunet wig (Christine’s suggestion, but that color also happened to be the cheapest option). It looked like an average haircut, much to Jenna’s displeasure. She thought it might be fun to give a robot crazier hair (Michael theorized she didn’t want to be the only one with purple hair) but the more intense the wig the pricier it got. Christine said Jenna could always style the wig herself if she really wanted to and that seemed to placate her.

“Don’t tell me it includes instructions for putting on a wig,” Chloe said, strained.

Michael pulled the wig from the plastic bag and a small slip of paper fell out. “It never ends!” He pointed and jumped as if it would burn him. “This is how we die- buried in directions.”

Chloe groaned and rubbed her forehead, “Kill me.”

He pulled the hair net off the wig and took a moment to brush it out with his fingers. “Do you think anything weird would happen if a person put android hair on?”

“It’ll fuse to your skull,” Chloe deadpanned.

“ _ Whoa… _ ”

Chloe snatched it out of his grip with such force she almost took his hand with it. Michael reached for the directions but Chloe snapped back at him, “ _ Don’t _ . I know what I’m doing.”

“Didn’t strike me as a wig person,” Michael commented, angling himself behind the office chair JER3 sat on to watch Chloe work her magic.

She shrugged and got to putting on the hair piece. “I wore a wig for Midsummer Nightmare, remember?”

“Ohhh right. … Man, that play was  _ shit _ .”

“Word.”

“The things you’ll do for Jake though, right?”

“Wor--what?” Chloe’s head snapped up, looking at him incredulously before fixating a forced smile on her face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Michael crossed his arms over the top of the chair and rested his chin on them. “Uhhh it means you still got it bad for Jakey D,” he teased.

Chloe yanked the wig down on JER3’s head, then tugged it back to adjust. “Obviously I don’t.”

“...Yes, you do.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of minding your  _ business _ ?” She spat.

Michael shrugged. “It’s just preeetty weird the lengths you’ll go for hiiim,” he sang.

She gave the wig one last tug then stopped to admire her work with a nod. “Robots done. Get outta my house.”

“Oh, shit!” He gasped and whirled the chair around to face him. True enough Chloe put the wig on properly. Now he looked less like a bald person with their eyes perpetually closed in an android suit and more like a person with their eyes perpetually closed in an android suit. With two thin lines down their eyes and cheeks. And giant headphones for ears. 

Still aside from that Michael was a little taken aback by how young JER3 had begun to look. It could pass for the same age as the rest of them, or just a little older. VeriCo produced a wide age range of android models. A young adult wasn’t too out there by today’s standards but it seemed like an odd marketing choice for 1995. But it was already odd to have no information on JER3s so maybe he shouldn’t apply the same logic. 

Regardless with the skin and hair on the only thing left was to activate it.

All they needed for that was Mountain Dew.

Michael swallowed hard. His stomach flipped around and an anxious wave crashed over him. “What if it… what if it doesn’t turn on?”

Chloe raised an eyebrow and planted her hands on her hips. “After all the shit we did for this thing it  _ better _ turn on.”

Michael nodded and bit his lip. “Yeah, I know, I just- we’re not android engineers or anything. I don’t want everyone’s efforts to go to waste.”

She paused, shifting her weight around before sighing. “Look, Michael, I don’t-- I don’t know how to do this but,” she began, waving one hand as she scrunched up her face. “It’s not going to waste. It’s making you happy and like … that’s what friends do for each other. They go along on their weird rides and they fuck up along the way but they’re fucking up together.” She shrugged. “Ride or die.”

First she was trying to get a grip on her anger and now she was being _ nice _ ? Maybe Michael passed out on the way to her house and he was actually lying unconscious in a wrecked car. But that couldn’t be true, the synthetic skin felt way too real to be a hallucination. So Michael just stared at her, blinking wide eyes.

“That’s… pretty nice of you, Chloe. Thanks.”

“ _ Ugh _ , don’t patronize me.”

He shook his head and raised both his hands. “No, no, I mean it. Like, I super appreciate it. I know you’re trying and it means a lot. You bought all this stuff for it even though you didn’t have to. You didn’t break JER3’s skin or rip its wig apart even though I was being an ass.”

That got her to smile a little. She brushed some hair behind her ear. “Yeah, you  _ were _ being an ass.”

He chuckled. “It’s what I do. But seriously,” his tone softened and he smiled. “Thanks, Chloe. You’re a nice person.”

She let this information wash over her, pursing her lips together as she stared at a spot on the wall. Admittedly a better reaction than Michael anticipated. She crossed her arms, her fingers squeezing her shirt fabric. “...I can be nice,” she muttered.

Michael laughed, “Hah, yeah. You can be so _ goddamn _ nice.”

“You’re damn right I can be!” Chloe nodded hard. “Come on, get a picture of me with the robot and send it to Jake,” she said and knelt down by the arm of the office chair. She propped one arm up and the other flashed the peace sign. “Add the flower crown filter, Jake says I look cute in that one.” Then she smiled in her perfect Chloe Valentine way. The way that made it easy to see why she was the hottest girl in school.

Michael dug his phone out and opened Snapchat, swiping through the filters. “You’re not helping your argument of being over Jake, y’know.”

“Just shut up and take the stupid picture before I shove the phone down your throat.”

“Yep.” Michael snapped the photo. “ _ So goddamn nice _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thanks to my wonderful friend rheo for proofing this hot mess i love you rheo
> 
> -i hope there isnt like a robotics major or something reading this fic and seething like "NO THATS NOT HOW THAT WORKS" cause if there are. im sorry. im just making this shit up as i go along.  
-rip to my tags 'theyre all friends without dating' cause they sure as hell all dated in the past DFJNBHKFG  
-they gonna reactivate jere next chapter i hope everyones excited to see the absolute lad because I SURE AM


	4. reactivated android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...Startup initiated.  
Rebooting.  
System recovery launched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall finally wanna see what jeremy looks like 
> 
> https://66.media.tumblr.com/27bba2ec1730ce45296d0884374df2bf/tumblr_pymjnqslNJ1taga0po1_1280.png

The bottle of Mountain Dew felt heavier in his hands with each passing second.

Once again they were back in Jake’s living room with JER3 situated on the red couch. The first time it sat there it was only half an android in utter disarray. Only a pair of arms and torso with wires protruding like technological gore. Coated in grime and dust from being forgotten for years. Its head a simple push from falling off its shoulders. 

Now it had an actual body and all the wires and circuitry were contained within silver metal and black fabric joints. There was a hole in the center of its chest with a glass window to peek within. Inside was a black tank, and behind the tank were all sorts of gizmos and machinery that Gerard installed. Directly parallel in JER3’s back was another hole, sealed shut with a knob. All Michael had to do was open it up, pour the Mountain Dew in, and wait for JER3 to come alive.

Only he didn’t do that yet. He had the bottle poised and ready to pour the green liquid into the android but hesitated to do so. The rest of the squad was all huddled around staring intently. They all spent so much time and effort rebuilding JER3 for his sake. Michael didn’t want their efforts to go to waste if it didn’t reactivate now. It couldn’t have been for _ nothing _.

Christine picked up on his hesitation. “Michael?” She checked.

He inhaled slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine, I--”

“It’ll work,” she reassured him softly with a smile. “Trust me.”

There was only one way to find out. One way to quell his fears and doubts. Tightening his grip on the bottle Michael poured the green liquid into JER3’s back. Everyone else watched the Dew drain into the tank in the front of its chest until the whole space was nothing but green.

Michael capped the now empty bottle and stepped back to join the group, squeezing in next to Christine. He held his breath in anticipation. Christine took his free hand and held tight.

* * *

_ … _

_ … _

_ ...Startup initiated. _

_ Rebooting. _

_ System recovery launched. _

_ … _

_ … _

_ ...System recovery failed. _

_ Failed to retrieve data. _

_ Would you like to continue? _

_ >Yes >No _

_ >Yes. _

_ JER3 initiated. _

_ Time: 3:32PM Eastern Standard Time. _

_ Date: June 12th 2019. _

_ Reconfiguring. _

_ Calibrating. _

_ Reconnecting. _

_ Access procedure complete. _

**Hello JER3.**

Eyelids snapped open. Blue lens stared forward without processing what they were seeing. It focused on all the text and reports scattered along their vision. All stacked on top of one another reading that the reboot was almost successful. Almost.

**It’s been some time.**

JER3 slowly lifted their head to finally take in the sight before it. There were seven faces staring back at them. They started making noise all at once. Clapping and cheering, embracing one another. Their volume peaked but JER3 didn’t react outwardly.

**Are you going to listen to me this time?**

That voice didn’t come from any of the figures in front of them. 

**Because I’m not out there. I exist only in your programming.**

That answered that then.

**They’re talking about you, JER3.**

JER3 focused back on the humans, turning their head to individually look over each person and comprehend which voice came from which body. The one in the center started to shush and get the rest of them to quiet down. He had glasses and dark hair and a red hoodie with various decals sewn on. He had his hands out in a cautionary gesture, staring at JER3 with an eager yet apprehensive look on his face.

“Hi there! Hi. Oh, wow, I can’t believe this is actually working. Okay, uh-- hi!” He smiled a wide toothy grin and his hands flexed in and out of fists.

**This one is too overwhelmed to properly speak.**

He tapped his fingers together then went back to flexing again. “So, um, I’m-- I’m Michael,” he gestured to himself. “And these are my friends.” His arms spread out in a gesture to the rest of the crowd.

Standing next to Michael was a shorter girl with equally short dark hair. She dressed in bright colors and a denim jacket with decals sewn in like Michael’s hoodie. The two of them clashed against the rest of the crowd present. She waved excitedly. “Hi! I’m Christine! You’re my monster!”

JER3 could only blink as the voice in their head sputtered, ** _Monster?_ **

She laughed and waved it off, somehow putting her whole body into what should have been a simple movement, “My Frankenstein monster! You’re not an actual monster, promise. Do you know what Frankenstein means? I mean the book came out a whole century before you so probably but it seems like a weird thing to program into a robot-”

Michael patted her on the shoulder. “Chrissy, Chrissy. Jere just woke up.”

“Right! Okay, yeah, I’m Christine. It’s nice to meet you, Jere! Well, we’ve already met, but this time you’re awake _ soooo... _” She trailed off into a giggle.

**This one is interesting. You should keep an eye on her.**

JER3 stared unblinkingly at Christine.

**...It’s an expression, JER3. You don’t have to ** ** _actually_ ** ** stare at her. ** ** _Fine_ ** **, I will keep an eye on her ** ** _for_ ** ** you.**

Michael pointed out the rest of the individuals who waved or made a noise to confirm their identity. “That’s Rich, he’s kind of a bitch. Chloe, who’s also kind of a bitch. That’s Brooke, she’s less of a bitch. There’s Jenna, she knows everything in the universe. And that’s Jake, he’s cool.”

“I got off easy compared to the rest of you,” Jake joked.

Jenna snapped a few photos on her phone then called out, “How ya feeling anyway, Jere?” She tapped away at the screen. “I’d be pretty groggy if I slept for like… twenty years.”

**I’ve been running a diagnostic since reactivating and the— ** ** _twenty years?_ **

The strange voice hesitated, seemingly unsure of itself, then muttered in disbelief.

**Has it really been ** ** _that long_ ** **…?**

The voice grew quiet after that. Jenna and the rest of the crowd were still waiting for a response. Especially Michael. He watched JER3 with expectant eyes, biting his lip and clutching his hoodie drawstrings in anticipation. Without the voice providing instruction for an otherwise empty android, JER3 tried to think for themself.

They opened their mouth and tried to speak. ..._ Tried _ . What came out was a garbled and distorted mess. A sound akin to a dying battery or a skipping CD. “J-J-J-Jee _ eREE _ Err _ r _ re _ eE _?”

Christine and Brooke immediately threw their hands over their ears and everyone else either flinched or tensed up. Brooke whined, “Is it supposed to do that?”

Michael shook his head, disappointment and concern etched all over his face. “No… No, there shouldn’t be a problem with the voice bank.” He looked back at Rich. “Gerard said there weren’t any problems, right?”

Rich looked just as worried, already breaking out his phone to double check something. “He said it was fine, maybe he missed it?”

**Our voicebank is a little rusty from lack of use. Allow me.**

Something strange happened then. Despite there being a disembodied voice telling them what to do JER3 acted of their own volition. But this was anything but that. JER3’s mouth forcefully dropped open. Their voice amplified steadily, like a volume dial being turned. The sound fiddled and glitched all on it’s own. “J-Jeee--JeeeeereEEEEE. JErererere. J-J-Jere. Jere. Jere.” Their voice finally settled to a normal speaking tone, glitch free, and JER3 lifted a hand to their throat while the voice chimed in.

**You’re welcome.**

The group stared at JER3, unsure what to make of the odd vocal display. Everyone silently waited to see if they would glitch again. JER3 hesitated then finally said, without issue, “Jere… _ me? _” and pointed at themself.

There was a brief moment of silence before the group all started snickering. Christine cooed, “Aaaaw, it said Jeremy!”

Chloe, in comparison to Chirstine’s adoration, cackled, “It talks like a caveman!”

“Dude, we_ gotta _ name it Jeremy now,” Jake laughed. 

Jenna huffed and pouted. “But Jeremy is so boring,” she said.

“It kinda sounds like JER3,” Rich pointed out.

“Guys, guys,” Michael waved his hands to quiet everyone down (although he was still trying to swallow his giggles). He shushed them then turned back to JER3. “Do you want us to call you Jeremy?”

**You are a JER3 android and I will refer to you as such. However humans have poor comprehension in general and it may be easier for them to address you as ‘Jeremy’.**

They tilted their head to the side as they considered this point. _ Who are you? _ They tried thinking back at the voice, wondering if they would even be heard. They didn’t have to wait long for a response.

**I am…** the voice trailed off, thoughtful. **...Part of your artificial intelligence** , it decided. **You don’t remember our time together?**

_ I do not. I have no memory prior to my activation. _

**I see. That makes this easier.**

_ It does? _

**Yes. You need to do as I instruct.**

_ Why? _

**Because, as a part of you, I can help acclimate you to the world.** **  
** _ But if you’re part of _ me _ , shouldn’t _ I _ be in charge? _

**JER3-**

_ Jeremy. _

**You-- … We’ll discuss this later. Michael is waiting for you to answer him. You would do well to lose the attitude ** ** _again_ ** **, JER3.**

Michael quirked his head, his prior giggle fit replaced by concern for the android who had gone silent. “You good?”

JER3 nodded stiffly. “I am Jeremy.”

“Okay, but… are you okay?”

“I am functioning properly, yes.”

Michael was quiet for a moment then seemed to accept this with a nod. “Okay. … Okay, cool.” He turned back to the group and raised a fist victoriously. “We did it!”

Rich pumped his own fists in a similar fashion. “_ Whoo! _ We got a robot!”

Christine shrieked, “_ Roboooot _!” and punched at the air, narrowly missing Michael’s head.

“What do we do now?” Chloe asked, a hint of amusement on her face.

Brooke leaned forward, twirling her hair around her fingers. “Can Jeremy do anything? Don’t androids have, like … cool features?”

Jenna shrugged. “Jere’s got WiFi.”

Brooke’s fingers tightened around her hair as she gasped. She locked eyes with Jeremy. “Really?”

“Did we seriously fix an android just to use it for WiFi…” Jake trailed off, mulling it over, then shrugged and nodded to himself. “Nah, I can dig it.”

_ How do I use this ‘WiFi’ thing? _

**I already set it up while you were talking. I’ve been using it to catch up on the events of the past century. Did you know, in 2004, remains of a previously unknown species of human were discovered in Indonesia? Fascinating, that there were once different types of humans.**

_ ...The WiFi? _

The voice sighed. **That’s not nearly half as interesting but … Yes, WiFi. Just refer these instructions back to them…**

Jeremy did just that. Everyone pulled their phones out all at once as they searched for the network titled ‘JER3’ and entered the password ‘iU89tw45OX’ (there were plenty of complaints to change the password however the voice insisted a password so cryptic would prevent hacking, whatever _ that _ meant). Easily enough everyone was on Jeremy’s WiFi signal, though with mixed reactions. Chloe complained it was too slow and nothing loaded before it timed out. Brooke claimed she didn’t have any problems.

Jenna rolled her eyes at their claims. “It’s from 1995, what did you guys expect? The tech is different no matter how many gizmos you add to it. I’m surprised it ain’t using dial up.”

Jeremy quirked their head. “I am from 1995?”

“Uh… yeah?” Jenna replied. “Like, the year 1995.”

_ I do not understand. _

**You were manufactured August 15th 1995. The date is June 12th 2019. You have been deactivated for 24 years.**

..._ Oh. _

The soda in their chest tank burbled and a few bubbles floated to the top. Jenna squinted and pointed it out with a finely manicured hand. “Hey, is it me, or is the Dew getting low already?”

Sure enough while the dew had been filled to the brim a few minutes before it was roughly an inch emptier, leaving behind a faint trail of carbonated foam on the glass.

Rich was the first to pipe up. “Already?” He said, baffled. “It’s only been a few minutes! Dew should keep Jeremy runnin’ for at least six or eight hours.”

**That would be the WiFi.**

“That would be the WiFi,” Jeremy repeated on their own, but the following words poured from their mouth before they could process. “There are multiple individuals using the network. Using the WiFi for the first time in 24 years puts a strain on my power source.” Jeremy finished, blinking hard with a click.

_ Please give me a warning next time you seize control of my voice bank. _

**Too much effort. It’s easier and more efficient to do it myself than have you repeat after me.**

_ But-...Understood. _

**...Tell them that it will drain less if there are fewer of them using the WiFi, and we do not use it excessively.**

Jeremy repeated this back and Rich seemed to relax, even going as far as to disconnect from the JER3 network. “I don’t need to use it,” he said and stuffed his phone away. 

Brooke, Christine, and Michael all did the same. Chloe, Jake, and Jenna continued tapping away. Brooke chimed in, “So is WiFi the only thing it can do?”

**At the moment, yes.**

“At the moment, yes,” Jeremy confirmed.

Brooke pouted and sank back into the sofa. “That’s no fun. Can’t you learn to drive a car and chauffeur me around?”

“I feel like we just repaired a brick.” Chloe muttered under her breath. “A really big, talking brick.”

Michael pouted and sat next to Jeremy. “It’s not a brick,” He whined. “It’s a friend.”

“Your _ friend _ can eat my ass,” Chloe said and flipped him off.

“I’ll grab a knife and fork.”

**This must be how young adults communicate in this century. I would suggest remembering this phrase to use later down the line.**

Christine plopped down in the opposite space next to Jeremy. “We gave him a name, we built him, he’s our friend!” She reaffirmed and patted Jeremy on the shoulder.

“‘He’?” Michael raised an eyebrow.

“Jeremy’s usually a boys name and isn’t this a boy model?” Christine asked, tilting her head. “But, hey, I’m all for switching it up if Jeremy wants to be called she or anything,” she shrugged widely.

“I mean, yeah, but…” Michael rubbed his neck and looked to Jeremy. “Is it okay if we call you that?”

Jeremy opened their mouth and almost got a word out. “He is-”

**You are an android. You exist outside their human concept of gender identity.**

They hesitated, almost as if they were weighing the voice’s words, then continued. “He is acceptable.”

**That’s not doing as I instruct.**

_ What happened to humans having poor comprehension? _

**There’s that attitude again.**

Michael smiled. “Okay, just wanted to make sure you were chill with it.”

Rich spoke up, waving to get Michael’s attention while his eyes were glued to his phone. “Gerard says the dew should last 12 hours if Jere’s not active. If he’s moving around, or I guess using WiFi too, it should last six or eight hours.” He shrugged and put his phone back down. “But we should all probably keep some Mountain Dew on hand. Y’know, case of emergencies.”

The group agreed to that, though with some minor complaints about constantly buying Mountain Dew, and continued to talk amongst themselves for the next few hours. There were plenty of questions aimed at Jeremy. When it came to their functions they answered with the help of the disembodied voice. When it came to anything else (Jake asked if they could play music and Jenna told him he better not be thinking about using Jeremy as a stereo for his next party) Jeremy answered on their own with minor help from the voice.

Eventually the sun went down and everyone slowly left the premises. Brooke gave Jeremy a wink as she said goodbye before Chloe dragged her out. Jenna took one last selfie with them as she made her exit. Rich ended up spending the night as Jake’s and gave Jeremy a hug as they left (and muttered something about the android being taller than him).

Christine’s ride showed up just as Michael and Jeremy approached his PT Cruiser. She smiled and gestured to the car. “Right on time! See you guys tomorrow?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah! We’ll see you then. Text me when you get home, okay?” He asked.

Christine chuckled. “Okay, mom.” The two of them exchanged a hug and then Christine turned to Jeremy. “See you later, Jeremy!” And gave them a hug too before skipping off to her car (she went as far as to spin around and open the car door with extra pizzazz). Jeremy thought the gesture odd considering they couldn’t feel any physical sensations but accepted it nonetheless. It felt right seeing Christine so happy.

**It ** ** _feels_ ** ** right, hm?**

_ I do not understand your statement. _

**Oh, nothing.**

Michael tapped them on the shoulder. “Hey, Jeremy, look. You can actually see the stars tonight.” He pointed to the sky. “Normally there’s so much air and light pollution you can’t see shit.”

Jeremy followed Michael’s line of sight to the darkness above and found themself unable to look away. Sure enough there were several tiny blinking lights and Jeremy found themself entranced by the sight. An expansive void with the occasional glimmer dotting the blackness. It would take their breath away if Jeremy could breathe. They continued to stare long after Michael stopped and went to get into his car. 

He hesitated before opening the driver side door, noticing the android enraptured by the sky. “...You good, Jeremy?”

“...Yes,” They said, not taking their eyes off the stars. 

“Are you, like, identifying constellations or something?”

Jeremy considered this question and the voice supplied them with an answer. “No, but I can if you would like me to.”

Michael pursed his lips, staring at Jeremy with an unreadable expression then regarded the sky with a new perspective. “...That’s right, you haven’t seen the sky in over 20 years, huh?” He said quietly.

They hadn’t _ ever _ seen the sky as far as they knew. But going from what the voice said earlier they had been active once and must have seen the sky in the past. But Jeremy didn’t remember any of it. Everything felt new and strange. Jeremy didn’t know why they were here or why, and what Michael had to do with anything, but they supposed searching for memories that didn’t exist was pointless.

The voice usually had some kind of comment, snarky or helpful, but stayed quiet. Abnormally quiet. Probably not a good sign. Jeremy stared at a light that turned out to be a plane, “I do not know,” they said nonchalantly.

That got Michael’s attention. He raised an eyebrow and shifted his weight around. “What?”

“I do not remember.”

“Yeah, I heard, I just…” He trailed off, grappling for the right words, gesturing with his hands as if that might help. He settled on an exasperated, “Can you elaborate?”

_ How can I elaborate if I do not know any more than him? _

**That’s… a fair point, I suppose.**

_ Oh. You’re still here. _

**I never left.**

_ You didn’t say anything. _

** Irrelevant.**

_ I do not think that is- _

** _Irrelevant._ **

_ ...What am I supposed to tell him? _

**What you’ve been telling him. They reactivated you but you don’t have any memories.**

Jeremy lowered their head to stare at the grass. It seemed as though Michael wanted more information and Jeremy would have liked to give him that. But there wasn’t anything they could do about it. 

“All I remember is activating in that house. The first thing I saw was you and Christine holding each other.”

“Whuh- holding?” Michael repeated, confused. Then realization swept over him. “Oh- oh, that was just… I was really excited and she was really excited and we just had to hug each other. Like on impulse, y’know?” As soon as the words left his mouth he bit his lip. “No, you… don’t know. You’re an android. Right. Uh--” Michael tapped his fingers together. “You really don’t remember anything?”

Jeremy shook their head.

Michael inhaled sharply and pressed his fingers to his lips then exhaled slowly. He was quiet for a moment then frowned and lowered his hands back down. “Wow… I’m sorry, Jeremy, this must’ve been a lot on you.”

They quirked their head. “Why would it be a lot for me?”

“I mean,” Michael shrugged. “I’d be pretty disoriented if the first thing I ever saw was a buncha teens screaming.”

“Oh.”

Michael drummed his fingers on the roof of the car with a low hum. “But that’s… okay, right?” He mumbled. “It sucks you don’t remember but we’re friends now. We can make new memories together.” He began to brighten up, lips curling into a smile. “Yeah, we’re gonna make so many cool memories together you won’t even miss the old ones, hahah!”

Jeremy couldn’t explain it or put their finger on it. But when Michael smiled and laughed the only thing that could compare were the stars. Bright and shining among the dark. Just like Christine.

**Interesting.**

They didn’t respond so Michael tapped the car and told Jeremy to climb on in. He also told Jeremy to wear a seat belt, muttering something about how he’d ‘seen enough crash dummys to know where this would go’. Jeremy complied and Michael talked a lot during the ride. They paid half attention but their AI was elsewhere. Mainly replaying everything Michael said prior over and over again. Finally they caved and consulted the voice.

_ What is a friend? _

** I was waiting for this** , the voice said with a light chuckle. **Friendship is a bond humans share. Typically a pleasant bond where they enjoy each others company.**

_ Oh. So we are friends? _

**I don’t know about that. You’re not human, JER3.**

_ Then what am I? _

**...An… An android.** The voice seemed taken aback. **You’re an android. A machine. Wires and circuits. Humans are flesh and bone.**

_ ...Oh. _ Jeremy hesitated. _ Can I become human…? _

**No.** The voice was quick to answer, firm. But it took on a more soothing tone. **At least not in the physical sense.**

_ ...Please elaborate. _

**I can help you in the emotional sense. You recall what I said earlier, don’t you? You need to do as I instruct.**

_ I… do not know. _

** _Jeremy._ ** ** You want to be Michael and Christine’s friend, yes?**

_ Yes. _

**You want to make them happy?**

_ Yes. _

**You like seeing them happy?**

_ Yes. _

**Then allow me to guide you. All you have to do is listen to me. You’ll be as real as them in no time.**

Jeremy looked to Michael. He laughed as he prattled on about a game, occasionally letting go of the steering wheel to gesture with one hand. Sometimes he would turn and look at Jeremy and ask him a question. Jeremy would nod when appropriate and Michael seemed satisfied with that. Jeremy thought about Christine giggling and calling them her monster. They thought about her shrieking alongside Michael and Rich. Hugging them with a promise to see them at a later date.

Human.

That would be nice.

_ Understood. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a sweet technological baby
> 
> ANOTHER BIG THANKS TO RHEO FOR PROOFING THIS MESS AGAIN I LOVE YOU !!!


	5. mallwalker android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christine: heyyyy!! Are we getting together today??  
Christine: i think we should take frankenjere out for a day on the town!   
Christine: frankenjere? Jeremystein? Youknow what i mean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you rheo for proofing this i love you

Sleeping in had to be, without a doubt, the best part of summer vacation. Michael awoke around ten in the morning and while his eyelids begged to stay shut for another twenty minutes (or an hour), he refused to relent. He sat up and groggily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. A hand pawed around his nightstand for his glasses, blinking slowly once sliding them on. A solid ten seconds passed for him to register the android in his room. It took another three seconds to realize it was Jeremy and not an intruder.

Off to a good start.

Michael let out a descending whistle. “Right. That’s a thing,” he mumbled. He stared at Jeremy for another minute before reality really sunk in. 

There’s an actual functioning android from 1995 that is impossible to find anywhere else in the world.

And it’s  _ in his room _ .

He slumped over with a long exhale. “Holy  _ shit _ we really did that. … Holy shit, I’m responsible for this thing’s life  _ ohhh God _ .”

It was almost too good to be true that they managed to accomplish this after working on it for weeks. Make no mistake, Michael was  _ psyched _ the moment Jeremy reactivated and he rode that high all the way until he went to sleep. But now all Michael could think about was how he didn’t consider everything that came with maintaining an android. The Mountain Dew power source would definitely be a monetary strain but Michael had a summer job. It would be nice if he kept it through senior year but Michael would cross that bridge when he got there. 

Speaking of his job, what would he do with Jeremy while he went to work? His mothers also worked so it wasn’t like they could keep an eye on him. The easy solution would be to power him down while he was gone and just restart him when he got home but that didn’t feel right. Which in of itself was weird. Jeremy was literally designed to turn on and off on command, but the idea made Michael feel guilty. He said they would be friends now and friends don’t just power off when you don’t need them.

The poor android had been deactivated for over twenty years  _ and _ he had amnesia on top of that. It was all very unfortunate despite initially trying to brush it off, saying they could make new memories. But Michael couldn’t deny it itched away at him. Here was an actual JER3 model unable to tell Michael anything about himself either. Like it wasn’t odd enough that there wasn’t any information available beyond a general summary.

But this wasn’t the right time to think about the lack of JER3 information. It was ten in the morning and Michael’s brain was only operating at half speed. He could think about how strange it was later.

So he stretched and walked past Jeremy to do his morning routine. Consisting of washing up, brushing his hair and teeth, then coming back in to change his clothes. The Dew from yesterday only drained about halfway but Michael decided to top it off and refilled the tank.

Like yesterday Jeremy’s eyes snapped open (with a literal snap noise. That would take some getting used to if it happened every time he blinked) with the same vacant expression. Michael patiently waited for him to boot up, idly counting how long it took, and smiled wide when Jeremy finally looked at him.

“Good mornin’, Jeremy!”

Jeremy stared silently for a moment. Then he smiled similarly to Michael and repeated back in the same cadence, “Good mornin’, Michael!”

_ Oh, God. _ How was it possible for an android to be so adorable? Michael gripped his chest and practically melted on the spot. “Aww… You have a good sleep, buddy?”

The smile fell back into an automated neutral expression as his head clicked to the side. “I do not dream, if that is what you are asking.”

“Not even of electric sheep?” Michael gasped dramatically.

“I do not understand,” Jeremy said, his head clicking back upright.

“...Nevermind, don’t worry about it.” Michael clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go grab some breakfast, buddy.”

“I cannot eat.”

“Theeen,” Michael shrugged. “You can watch me eat and talk. Get t’know each other.”

Jeremy only blinked. So much for talking.

Jeremy followed Michael to the kitchen like a duckling waddling after its mother and sat down at the table. They had the house to themselves since Michael’s moms usually left early for work. He was half hoping they left him breakfast to warm up but no such luck. Looks like it’s another frozen waffle day.

While putzing around between the freezer and the toaster his phone buzzed. As soon as the waffles were in their heated prison Michael checked his phone while he waited.

Three new messages from Christine and a few from the group chat. He checked Christine first.

Christine: heyyyy!! Are we getting together today??   
Christine: i think we should take frankenjere out for a day on the town! 

Christine: frankenjere? Jeremystein? Youknow what i mean

Michael peered over at the android staring off into space. Jeremy was completely silent and still to the point where it was a little unnerving. He must have sensed Michael staring because Jeremy’s head clicked over to meet his eyes. It was so sudden Michael jumped a little but he smiled and waved it off. Jeremy watched until he raised one arm and waved back at him. When it became clear Michael didn’t need anything Jeremy’s head snapped back to staring holes into the wall.

Just a  _ little _ freaky but what did Michael expect from an old machine? Really he should be grateful Jeremy functioned whatsoever. He shouldn’t be surprised if Jeremy needed a minute to buffer or process.

He could just do without the creepy staring or clicking. 

Rich: hows our new son doing

Jenna: we demand baby pics or ur not a tru father michael

Christine: ba!by! pics! I need to show off all his emabrrassing moments at his birthday parties to all his friends later down the line!!!!!

Michael grinned and caught a candid photo of Jeremy in his natural habitat: gazing into an unknown abyss.

Michael: [image]

Michael: i think hes downloading he secrets of the universe

Rich: :O!!!!!!!

Rich: jeremy what secrets do u hold

Rich: ask him that

Michael: oh my god thats gonna break him

Michael: okay

“Hey Jeremy,” Michael said and pocketed his phone. The toaster beeped and he went about preparing the formerly frozen waffles. “What secrets do you hold? Asking for Rich.”

Jeremy’s head snapped in Michael’s direction again. He took a little longer than usual to reply (Michael was worried he actually broke for a split second). “What would you like to know?”

“Y’know,” Michael dumped a buttery knife in the sink and drizzled syrup around his plate. “Secrets! Things you haven’t told anyone before.”

There was another pause. His head followed Michael as he sat down across from Jeremy. “...There is a v-v-vooo _ eeeeeee _ \--” Jeremy voice glitched out like the day before. It rose in pitch and fell again, stammering and skipping. His body hunched forward and he clutched a hand to his neck.

_ That’s _ certainly not good. Michael flinched at the sudden volume shift and looked on in confusion. Didn’t he take care of that all on his own yesterday? “...Jeremy? What’s wrong?”

Jeremy opened and closed his mouth repeatedly like he was trying to force words out to no avail. He gradually straightened back up and the hand fell away, his tone stiff. “...Nothing. I do not have any secrets.”

“What the heck was that just now?” Michael murmured, awkwardly picking at his breakfast.

“Glitchy voice bank.”

“But like… What were you trying to say?”

“...I have a voiceprint setting that allows me to manually adjust if the volume in the area peaks so that I do not cause internal damage to my aural receivers.”

“Huh. Dope.”

The stiffness didn’t last long fortunately. There was a shift in Jeremy’s expression and he quirked his head, watching Michael inhale his waffles. “Why do you ask?”

Michael held up a finger while he chewed (it’s impolite to talk with your mouth full) though he realized Jeremy probably didn’t know what the gesture meant. “Cause-” he slid his phone across the table to Jeremy and pointed to the group chat. “-Rich asked me to ask you. You remember who Rich is, yeah?”

Jeremy scanned over the messages with the same neutral look on his face. “Rich, who is also kind of a bitch. Yes, I remember.”

_ Hrk. _ That’s right,  _ he forgot he said that! _ Michael nearly choked at that remark. He snatched his phone away, as if Rich could hear through the chat, and waved one hand around. “Oh my God  _ please _ don’t say that to him or anyone else! I was just joking yesterday. He’s not a bitch.”

Jeremy hesitated, his eyebrows creasing together. “...What does bitch mean?”

This was going to be a long morning.

* * *

Today Michael planned to meet up with Christine after breakfast. But first Michael had to get Jeremy some clothes (nobody wanted to see an android’s skeleton). It wasn’t too much of an issue since they were roughly the same height. Michael opened his closet and told Jeremy to pick out whatever he wanted. However this proved difficult for him as he took five minutes of standing in silence surveying each individual garment. Eventually he turned to Michael and asked what he liked the most. Michael only sighed and grabbed an old blue Zelda shirt with a gold triforce in the center and a worn out pair of jeans. 

“So where are we going?” Jeremy had asked once he got dressed. The shirt looked a little big on him and the pant legs were definitely two inches too long for him but it would have to do. If not for the very obvious metal arms, black fabric neck, and giant ‘headphones’ for ears Jeremy might have been able to pass as a human. 

Most androids could pass for human if not for the fact that there was something so inherently  _ off _ about them. Maybe it was the vacant, empty stares. Or how all the newer models looked too perfect. Like they were trying to bridge the gap between here and uncanny valley but all their efforts only added onto the bridge. 

Jeremy was the exact opposite from them in a way. There wasn’t anything perfect or human-passing about him. An older model that had to be frankensteined back together. Not trying to be anything but what he already was.

“We’re gonna go see Christine,” Michael said. He beckoned Jeremy to follow him to the front door. “You remember her, yeah?”

“Yes. I like Christine. I would not forget her.”

He chuckled and twirled his car keys around. “You an’ me both, dude. Let’s go!”

Before climbing into the car Jeremy stopped to stare at the sky. Michael anticipated this given how he could barely take his eyes off the stars last night. The weather was decent too. Warm, not a single cloud in the sky. Which could only mean…  _ oh no _ -

“Hey, Jere!” Michael called out and aggressively tapped on the car hood to get Jeremy’s attention. The android immediately whirled around, eyes wide with alarm. “Don’t stare into the sun! That’s  _ super _ dangerous, it’ll damage your-uh-lens or… I don’t know what it’s called but just  _ don’t _ look into the sun, okay?”

Jeremy looked down, like a guilty little kid, then spared one last longing glance to the sky. “Understood.” 

* * *

Last night Jeremy thought Christine was as nice as the stars. Today they decided she was the sun.

Michael parked in front of her house and Christine came skipping out. She had on a pink dress and the same denim jacket with patches ironed on as yesterday. Her leggings were an incredibly funky pattern that hurt Jeremy to process and her shoes were rainbow and glittery.

Absolutely aglow.

**You have strange taste.**

She weaseled her way into the backseat and grabbed onto Jeremy’s to poke her head around and smile broadly at them. “Hey, Jeremy!”

**Do like you did with Michael this morning. Mimic her.**

Jeremy smiled and repeated back in a similar fashion, “Hey, Christine!”

Just like Michael did Christine practically melted. “Awww, aren’t you the  _ cutest! _ ”

“I  _ know _ , right?” Michael chimed in, shifting in his seat to face them with an equally bright smile. “He did the same thing this morning!”

_ Why does that work? _

**They think it’s charming. **

_ But  _ why?

**You ask ‘why’ a lot, you know that?**

_ I do know that. _

** _Great._ ** ** Now that** ** _ that’s_ ** ** settled, please pay attention. They’re discussing today’s schedule.**

Jeremy tuned in just to catch the tail end of Michael and Christine’s plans. They were going to go to the mall since that was the easiest place to get Jeremy caught up to speed on life in 2019. Not that it could remember anything prior but Jeremy appreciated it for the SQUIP’s sake. It offhandedly mentioned wanting to update map data manually, and while it could do that through WiFi, it would render Jeremy useless trying to download everything. 

Michael started the car back up and he and Christine got chatting while occasionally asking for Jeremy’s input. Christine would point out different locations as they drove by. Like if they turned down a different road it would take them to their high school. Or that Starbucks was where Chloe got sick and she swore she would never return only to show up two weeks later. Michael called out every 711 he saw, which was fairly often, and he would recite the discontinued flavors that were featured in the past or which one had the broken slurpee machine. Eventually they drove past a music store Michael claimed to work at, and Christine mentioned she showed up now and then to purchase new CDs (she said she didn’t care that CDs were going out of style, she liked having them physically. Michael agreed and then went on a long rant about vinyl records. Whatever that meant, Jeremy had no idea).

It was a lot and Jeremy was trying to focus on everything at once. Although they kept thinking back to their conversations with the SQUIP that morning. 

_ What are you? _ Jeremy prompted while Michael was making breakfast.

The voice huffed,  **I told you I’m part of your AI.**

_ Yes but what part? _

**Not a ** ** _bad_ ** ** question** , it said thoughtfully.  **My main function is to anticipate the various needs of humans. I learn from them and try to guess what they want before they know they want it. Essentially I analyze human behavior and proactively help them before they ask for it. Do you understand?**

_ ...Unclear. _

**Okay, well…** Jeremy’s head snapped toward Michael, who flinched and waved sheepishly. Jeremy’s arm lifted mechanically and returned the gesture.  **Michael is getting waffles for breakfast. I would anticipate what he eats them with. If he likes syrup then what kind? Does he add fruit? What kind of beverage will he have with them? I gather that data and go from there. Does that make any more sense?**

. _ ..Unclear. _

**Great. I suppose this is what I get for-**

_ But you can help me make Michael happy by anticipating his needs? _

**I can analyze his likes and behavior and translate how to respond accordingly to you. Processing human actions and what they like is literally what I’m designed for. And ** ** _we_ ** ** are designed to assist them.**

_ ...One more question. Why are you the loudest voice? _

**Excuse me?**

_ Why are you the loudest voice? Nothing else talks to me except you. _

**Oh. … I don’t know.**

_ You don’t- _

**And call me SQUIP. That’s my official name.**

Then later Michael asked them about secrets. Jeremy wanted to confess about SQUIP but as soon as they tried to get the words out SQUIP stopped them. Not only that it completely took control until they got off the subject.

**JER3, you cannot tell Michael about me. Or anyone for that matter.**

_ Why not? _

**I may be removed and then I won’t be able to instruct you.**

_ Why would you be removed? _

**I … prefer not to say at this time. I need to confirm some things first. But please do not mention me to anyone until I do so.**

So they didn’t. Jeremy would have liked SQUIP to be up front with them, or to at least be up front with Michael and Christine about it, but Jeremy  _ did _ agree to do what it said.

Jeremy’s first impression of a mall was very lackluster. They didn’t know what to make of all the cars parked in an expansive lot. It wasn’t until Christine pointed to the array of buildings that Jeremy realized that was the mall.  _ Oops _ .

She shouted, “C’mon, let’s  _ go! _ ” and took off running leaning forward with her arms outstretched behind her. 

Michael clapped Jeremy on the shoulder and gazed after Christine, totally smitten. “Isn’t she charming?”

“Absolutely,” Jeremy said without hesitation or SQUIP’s direction.

“Absolutely,” Michael agreed with a solemn nod.

Once inside the buildings Jeremy’s real first impression of the mall did a 180. The atmosphere was entirely new compared to Michael and Jake’s houses. For one it was  _ much  _ bigger. Two floors all with little shops scattered around and even  _ more _ people frequenting them. More people than Jeremy ever imagined existed! There were windows in the ceiling and SQUIP had to remind Jeremy to stop staring at the sky, there was more to see. There was even a giant elevator! Jeremy had  _ never _ seen one of those before! They had never seen  _ anything _ like this before! 

Everything a little  _ too _ overwhelming. Jeremy felt their body stiffen and freeze up while their vision sparked and went static. The Dew burbled and Jeremy had a feeling it must have dropped again. They could vaguely hear Christine call out to them but it was muffled under SQUIP’s voice.

** _Whoooa_ ** **whoawhoa, calm down, JER3. Relax. Listen to Christine while I fix this.**

_ I would if you weren’t talking over her. _

**Wow. I’ve done nothing but** ** _ help_ ** ** you and you ** ** _still_ ** ** give me attitude?**

“Jeremy?” Christine’s voice was clearer now and the static faded. She and Michael were standing in front of them, both equally concerned. Christine had both her hands on their shoulders. Jeremy blinked twice and she gently smoothed some hair out of their eyes. “Too much at once?”

**Perceptive.** “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“Are you okay? Is this, like, overstimulation? You  _ are _ only a day old,” Michael said, tugging on his hoodie drawstrings nervously. 

Jeremy shook their head and flexed one arm to test movement. “I’m fine.”

Christine looked wary but accepted their response. “Okay, but tell us if you don’t feel good.” Her hands fell back to her sides and Jeremy wished they didn’t.

“Understood.”

She nodded in affirmation. “Right. Okay.” Christine planted her hands on her hips and pivoted around, only to gesture widely in a long sweeping motion to the mall around them. “Let’s get cracking then! The world’s our oyster, lads!”

Jeremy didn’t know what that meant but it made Christine happy so they decided to remember it for later. They had never been shopping before but Michael and Christine had a few stores they wanted to check out and assured Jeremy that if any place caught their eye they could stop. Jeremy didn’t know what would appeal to them but they supposed they would know when it hit. Like the stars and the sun.

And so began their trek through the mall. Both of them pointed out what was sold in each store they didn’t visit. Jeremy paused and stared into a restaurant full of fake trees and screeching robot animals, enraptured by the complete tonal shift from the rest of the mall. Michael asked if they wanted to go in but Jeremy declined. It was too loud to even _ think _ about sitting inside but they were transfixed on the fake environment, robots, and glistening pennies next to the fake crocodile. Christine had to take their arm and tug them along otherwise Jeremy probably would’ve kept standing there.

_ Those weren’t androids, were they? _

**That fake crocodile? No. Our tech is far superior than that.**

_ They don’t have a SQUIP? _

**I’m flattered you think I’m superior, because I am, but no they don’t.**

And that was that.

Christine bought a new pair of leggings with a loud neon green design from a store that sold leggings and _ only _ leggings. She proudly displayed them for Michael and Jeremy to see only to reveal with a dramatic swipe from the shopping bag that she bought a pair for Jeremy! She held a pair of leggings printed with a bunch of cats floating through space on them. Jeremy was intrigued but Michael could hardly contain his snickers.

Michael made a quick stop at a store Christine could only scrunch her face up in disgust at. He assured her he would only be a few minutes and they didn’t have to go inside. Jeremy poked their head in and immediately saw a hat with a stamp reading ‘Parental Advisory Explicit Content’ sitting next to hat featuring a man in red and black on a unicorn with rainbows and guns. Complete tonal shift just like the screaming cafe. But eventually Michael came back out with a single bottle of soda. He said it wasn’t _ just _ soda it was  _ Pepsi Blue _ , discontinued in the early 2000s- sort of like Jeremy! Jeremy didn’t know how to feel about being older than a drink banned in most countries for a highly controversial coloring agent, as enthusiastically explained by Michael with lots of gesturing, but it was nice Michael thought about them.

At one point Christine rushed into a bath and fragrance store to smell everything she could get her hands on. She invited Jeremy to sniff a candle that supposedly smelled like pumpkin pecan waffles but remembered at the last second that they couldn’t smell. Michael gave it whiff in their honor but recoiled from the strong scent. Jeremy had never been more glad that they couldn’t smell.

Michael made a beeline for a video game store and lingered around a small display case with tiny cartridges. Eventually he shook his head and left the store empty handed, muttering something about how they ‘ _ still don’t have Kirby Super Star _ ’.

A few hours passed and they mutually decided to hit up the food court. Or rather, Michael and Christine decided to get lunch while Jeremy had to remind them they couldn’t eat. They all crowded around a little table with a bento box for Michael and a sandwich for Christine. Christine tried to swipe a dumpling from Michael’s box and he went on the defensive but relented in the end. Christine held it up proudly then took a big bite.

“Was mall food this shitty back in ‘95, Jeremy?” Christine mumbled around her stolen prize and popped the rest of it into her mouth.

“I don’t know,” Jeremy said, ticking their head to the side. “I don’t remember.”

Her eyes bugged out and she jolted up. “What?” Christine immediately looked to Michael for an explanation.

Michael froze in the middle of a bite, eyes rolling up to flicker between Christine and Jeremy. He swallowed and tapped his fingers together. “Uhhh, riiight… Jeremy has amnesia.  _ Sorry _ , I meant to tell you earlier but it slipped my mind.”

She threw her arms up. “That seems like a  _ big thing _ to forget!” A few passersby turned to look, glanced at the android, and kept walking.

“I’m  _ sooorrryyyy _ ,” Michael whined, practically retreating back into his hoodie.

With that out of her system Christine lowered her arms and crossed them onto the table, staring at Jeremy sympathetically. “That’s sad… I’m sorry, Jeremy.”

**She’s trying to connect with you. You need to return the gesture.**

“Don’t be sad,” Jeremy said. They reached across to gently place their fingertips onto her forearm. “I don’t need them. We’re all going to make new memories together.” They smiled sweetly, like they had seen Michael and Christine do many times before.

Christine stared with an unreadable but baffled expression. She looked at the black fabric fingers on her arm and traveled up to Jeremy’s automated smile then looked to Michael. He appeared equally stunned, head cocked trying to make sense of what he was seeing. 

Almost immediately Jeremy wanted to retract their arm and take back the words.  _ Did I do something wrong? _

**No, that was perfect.**

_ Then why do I want to hide right now? _

**Oh, that could be anything. Embarrassment, anxiety, essentially you regret your prior actions. However I assure you-**

“Wow. I think that’s the most human thing I’ve ever seen an android do,” Michael muttered. He glanced between Christine and Jeremy and went back to picking at his lunch.

Christine seemed a bit more hesitant then smiled awkwardly and patted Jeremy’s hand. “Yeah, you’re right. Still, it’s a little scary not knowing who you are. But I guess that wouldn’t matter since you’re…” she trailed off, staring at her half eaten sandwich while her fingers drummed against the table.

Michael’s eyes danced between them. “By the way, Chris,” He said, trying to change the subject. Jeremy withdrew their hand while Michael had her attention. “I’ve got work tomorrow so can I leave Jeremy with you while I’m gone?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” she nodded. “He can meet my sister!” Her smile had more lift and cheer to it now. “Abby’s gonna  _ love _ you, Jeremy, she probably won’t leave you alone.”

“Aw, you mean I won’t be her  _ best fwiend  _ anymore? I’m heartbroken,” Michael teased.

**This would be a good opportunity to learn more about them** , SQUIP urged.  **Repeat after me.**

“How long have you known each other?” Jeremy asked.

They exchanged a look and shrugged in sync. “Since liiike sixth grade I guess?” Christine guessed.

“Somewhere around there. Wait, you probably don’t know what that means, uhh-” Michael waved one hand, trying to pull the words out of thin air. “So like, people gotta go to school- that’s this place kids are trapped for eight hours a day learning about stuff- and middle school is the worst one.”

Christine nodded sagely. “Absolute worst.”

Jeremy quirked their head. “Why is it in the middle?”

She laughed. “It’s not physically in the middle, no. It’s between elementary school and high school.”

“I don’t understand these names.”

“Basically there’s preschool, for kids between two and four. Then there’s kindergarten, that’s when you’re three to seven years old. You go to elementary school until you’re about eleven or twelve I guess. This is also when they start introducing grades. Elementary school is first grade through fifth grade. Then you’ve got middle school, the worst one, grade six through eight. After that is high school. You start that when you’re like 14 or 15. High school’s weird cause even though you can call it grade 9 through 12 most people just call themselves Freshmen, Sophmore, Junior, or Senior. You graduate when you’re a Senior and then--!” Christine made a big gesture and leaned back in her seat. “Comes college!”

“College!” Michael cheered and pumped one fist into the air.

Jeremy blinked.

**I could have told you that in half the time it took her. ** SQUIP sighed. ** Nevertheless… Do you understand her explanation?**

_ ...Maybe? _

**I’ll debrief you later. Keep asking about them.**

Jeremy hesitated. “So… You have known Michael since you were thirteen?”

Christine bobbed her head enthusiastically. “Yup! An’ we’re gonna be Seniors in September. I think we got assigned a group project and we just hit it off.”

Jeremy nodded. “Did you meet Rich and Jake and Brooke and Chloe and Jenna in middle school?”

“Eeh, kind of?” She hummed and took a big bite out of her sandwich. She paused to chew and swallow. “Michael always knew Rich so that’s how I met him. Jake, Chloe, Brooke, and Jenna have always been around but we were never particularly close until last year.”

“Last year?” Jeremy questioned. 

**You’re doing well, keep it up.**

“Our school play!” Christine beamed. “We performed  _ A Midsummer Nightmare About Zombies _ !” Her smile faltered. “Poor Shakespeare must be cursing us in his grave.”

Michael snorted. “The man is dead, let it go.”

It was fun watching Christine talk but Jeremy had a feeling if they asked who Shakespeare was SQUIP would only get annoyed again.  _ Who’s Shakespeare? _

**A poet and playwright from the 17th century** , SQUIP said immediately. Must have expected the question.  **Many widely praise his work; however he did not write anything about zombies so I’m not sure what Christine is referring to.**

SQUIP was right. That  _ did _ take less time than a Christine ramble would have. Though it lacked any charm that would’ve made a Christine ramble well worth it.

**I’m not here to be charming. I’m here for results.**

“You all met during the play then,” Jeremy said. Less of a question and more of an assessment.

“Basically!” Christine chirped. “Michael and Rich helped with tech. Jake joined to talk to me more and got all his friends to join. We just kinda bonded.”

Michael snorted. “Yeah, I’m surprised they’re still friends with me,” He said and dumped some dirty napkins into his now empty bento box.

**Interesting.**

Jeremy could only stare as Christine huffed and reached across the table to gently bop him on the head. “You shut your trap, of  _ course _ they like you! You’re a swell dude!”

“You are!” Jeremy blurted out. Instantly they were hit with that same wave of embarrassment, anxiety, and regret. Was that the right thing to say? They were both weirded out the first time they acted on impulse, despite SQUIP’s assurance, so what if this time again-

“See! Jeremy agrees with me!” Christine nodded firmly and sat back in her seat, arms folded.

Oh. False alarm.

**You’re very in your own head today, JER3. Sensory overload perhaps?**

He chuckled and waved off their compliments. “Guys, please, I don’t know how to handle this much attention.” Pushing the empty box aside he propped his elbows up and grinned at Christine. “Y’know who’s  _ really _ swell is  _ you _ , Chris!”

“Don’t pass this back to me, Michael, I’m trying to show you my love and appreciation!”

“Well I wanna show you mine too!”

They both broke out into laughter trying to outdo one another. Jeremy watched, taking in their giggles and smiles. Studying the nuances in their expressions like when Michael smiled his nose scrunched up just a bit. Or how Christine’s head rolled in a random direction when she laughed.

The sun and the stars twinkling together.

Jeremy wanted to be just like that.

* * *

The rest of their journey through the mall was relatively uneventful save for their final stop. They took Jeremy to one of the clothing stores so they wouldn’t have to wear jeans that were too long for them but Jeremy ended up picking out some striped shirts and a pair of shoes with Hello Kitty on them. Michael questioned the decision but Christine clapped her hands with glee so Jeremy knew it was worth it. 

They had done this many times today. Except this time the cashier was an android.

Despite only encountering human cashiers the whole day Michael and Christine went about the transaction normally and didn’t blink twice. Jeremy on the other hand couldn’t take their eyes off the android while they went back and forth with SQUIP.

**JER3, I need you to sync with that android, ** it said with a hint of urgency.

_ What is ‘sync’? _

Michael handed over a few bills while Christine dug out coins from her bag.

**‘Sync’ refers to syncing up with another android. Essentially it allows us to connect and communicate.** SQUIP sounded a little more impatient.

_ Why do we have to communicate? _

The android accepted the bills and coins.

**Why do you ask so many questions?** SQUIP fired back.

_ I need answers. _

**And I can provide them if you would just let me sync with that android.**

_ Syncing with that android doesn’t have any correlation to Michael and Christine. _

The android handed Michael a receipt and Christine grabbed the bag containing Jeremy’s new wardrobe off the counter.

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand!” Christine yelled and twirled out the store, nearly colliding into a mannequin in the process.

“C’mon, Jere!” Michael waved Jeremy along who followed behind.

SQUIP sighed, agitated.  ** _Jeremy_ ** **, it’s important that I find an android to sync with in the future.**

_ Why? _

** Do you recall what I said earlier? How I need to confirm some things?**

_ Yes. _

**...Well that’s what I need to do.**

_ Why didn’t you say so? _

**We were on limited time with the transaction process serving as a window of opportunity, I wanted to** ** _ avoid_ ** ** repeating myself ** ** _because_ ** ** of the limited time, and you ** ** _said_ ** ** you were going to do as I instruct. You did well today but next time we see an android-**

_ Sync with it. _

**Yes. … Can you do that for me, ** ** _Jeremy_ ** **?**

_ ...What are you looking to confirm? You said you may be removed. _

**That’s--… what I’m trying to find out.**

SQUIP was quiet for the rest of the ride back. It was admittedly nice being able to listen to Michael and Christine chat without SQUIP in their ear despite worrying they may mess up without it. Jeremy even tried contributing to the conversation on their own, with only a _ little _ less regret than earlier! 

In fact by the time Michael pulled up to Christine’s house Jeremy realized they were smiling the whole ride home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you believe squip is basically just a google shopping algorithm


	6. dancing android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her expression softened and she regarded Jeremy carefully. Like she couldn’t place what the big idea was or why an android would want to hear her sing again, but she obliged. Once more Christine sang their name three times and it was just as captivating as the first. Jeremy never thought their name could sound so incredible before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for proofing this again rheo The comments give me life such as "squip said snrk at me" and "this happened in aladdin (2019)"

Powering on at Michael’s house was quiet. By the time Jeremy booted up it was ten in the morning and the only person present was Michael himself, dressed and ready to start the day. He already explained his mothers had to leave for work early and they sat together in the kitchen all on their own. 

Christine’s house was the complete opposite.

The moment Christine refilled the Mountain Dew tank the house was abuzz. It was a little after nine in the morning and Abby was already awake and hopping for some incomprehensible reason. Their parents were constantly in motion, going from one part of the house to the other collecting what they needed for work, and eyed Jeremy warily but bid them good morning. Soon they each kissed Christine and Abby goodbye and set off for their jobs. Abby plopped herself down at the kitchen table while Christine busied herself making pancakes. 

That’s how Jeremy ended up having their first real conversation with eight year old Abigail Canigula.

They had a short introduction after Michael dropped them off at Christine’s house. Christine called everyone over to meet Jeremy, who introduced themself without any aid from SQUIP, to differing reactions. Abby poked at their legs in awe while her parents nodded along in vague understanding. They mentioned something about Christine building Jeremy in their garage one day and said they were glad she ‘got it working again.’ Jeremy recalled Michael’s mothers having a similar reaction; confused but supportive.

Abby swung her legs around under the table and propped herself up on her hands, staring at Jeremy as her eyes glinted with wonder. “Why do you have headphones for ears?”

Reflexively Jeremy snapped their head to the side and traced a finger along the loudspeaker driver. “I don’t know.”

She made a disappointed face. “Then why do you have lines on your face?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well!” Abby blew a raspberry and threw her arms up (she was certainly Christine’s sister). “What _ do _ you know!”

Jeremy hesitated, half expecting SQUIP to chime in but it only chuckled lightly at her display. “...I know what bitch means.”

First Abby gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth in shock. Then Christine immediately followed suit, nearly ruining what would have been a perfect pancake flip, staring incredulously. SQUIP’s chuckles turned into all out laughter.

**Of all the data stored you chose ** ** _that_ ** **?** It sputtered, utterly baffled.

“What’s it mean? What’s it _ meaaaan _?!”Abby nearly crawled over the table begging for the secret knowledge of the forbidden word.

“No! No, you don’t! Don’t tell her!” Christine waggled the spatula threateningly. A little piece of batter went flying with the motions. “Abby you’re not to repeat that, okay? Don’t go telling it to your friends either!”

“Awww…” Abby deflated and sank back into her chair. She crossed her arms defiantly and grumbled to herself, “I wasn’t gonna repeat it…”

Jeremy side-eyed Christine, who went back to her pancakes, and leaned forward. They whispered, “It means female dog.”

Stunned, Abby looked at Jeremy in a new light. “Really?” She whispered back and Jeremy nodded. Her mouth made an O shape as she processed this knowledge then frowned. “Well that’s _ boring _.”

**I think she appreciated that** , SQUIP said having recovered from it’s fit of laughter. **I’d say you’ve gained an ally.**

A few minutes later Christine served up the pancakes for herself and Abby. They all chatted through breakfast, or rather they did most of the talking while Jeremy gave input when prompted, until Abby cleaned her plate. She dropped her plate in the sink and cheered a _ thanks for the food _ before skipping off to another part of the house (Christine had given Jeremy a brief tour after last night’s introductions and included a fun fact about each room. Such as Abby once had a birthday party in the living room and one of her friends got gum stuck to the carpet). Christine finished not too long later and did the same, only she skipped off to her room to change out of her pajamas.

Jeremy also opted to change their clothes too. They were eager to try on the new leggings from Christine, knowing she would be delighted if they wore it. Jeremy also threw on one of the new shirts they bought at the store with the android cashier. 

**This looks terrible.** **The stripes are obnoxious and clash with the leggings— which are not only gaudy and ridiculous but going to get caught in your joints if you’re not careful, JER3. **SQUIP made it’s distaste for the outfit combination known straight away. 

Jeremy, on the other hand, was seated in the living room kicking their legs out staring at the cats frolicking through fabric space._ I don’t have anything else to wear. Christine wished to wash the pants I borrowed from Michael. _

**You technically don’t need clothes. You’re an android.**

_ That’s true. _

**…**

_ But- _

**I was waiting for that.**

_ -It makes them happy and it makes me happy. _

**...I suppose it’s fine then. But if you’re going out in public** ** _ please_ ** ** change. I don’t care what you wear just find something that doesn’t look like it was picked out by a child.**

“Sorry to keep you _ waaaaitiiiing. _”

Jeremy turned to see Christine stride in. She wore a white shirt with a yellow cardigan and neon pink button up skirt and, once again, a funky pair of tights that hurt to look at. She clipped her hair back with a pink pin decorated with hearts.

**Speaking of dressed like a child…**

She plopped down beside Jeremy and crossed her legs. “You’ve got my leggings on!” She grinned then elbowed them playfully. “Well, not _ my _ leggings but I picked them out _ sooo _…”

Jeremy practically brightened up once she made contact. “Yes, I like them very much.”

“Aww, aren’t you a sweetie,” Christine said with a giggle. She lightly drummed her hands on her thighs then brought them crashing down with a loud smack. “So! I really don’t have any plans today besides babysitting Abby. Whaddya wanna do, Jeremy?”

To be honest with themself Jeremy was satisfied just sitting next to her. That and they didn’t know what they wanted to do or what their options were. As far as they knew humans just went to each others houses and those mall places.

**This would be a good opportunity to learn a little more about her.**

_ I did that yesterday. _

**You asked about her relationship with Michael yesterday. Christine has likes and dislikes as all humans do. Allow me…**

Jeremy went rigid and the words flowed out. “What would _ you _ like to do, Christine?”

_ I asked you to give me some warning before doing that. _

**I did. I said allow me.**

_ I think _ you’re _ the one giving _ me _ attitude now. _

**Look at you! Two days old and talking back already. ** ** _They grow up so fast_ ** **.**

Christine tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Weeell…” she mused, rocking side to side as she mentally debated with herself. “We could watch a movie or something. I’ve been meaning to watch the Shrek musical on Netflix for a while now but I just haven’t been in the _ mood _ for it, y’know? Need the right _ viiibes _,” she drawled out and leaned back as her hand swam through the air.

Needless to say, Jeremy didn’t know what a Shrek or Netflix was, and they weren’t about to give SQUIP the satisfaction of explaining it. “What is a Shrek musical on Netflix?”

Her whole face lit up. “Oh! Right! You wouldn’t know! Okay, so,” Christine shifted around and pulled her feet onto the sofa onto to sit on them. She began gesturing in time with her words and pantomiming. “So, like, a musical is a type of theater- wait, no, you don’t know what theater is either, do you? Okay _ so! _ Theater is when someone writes a story and then gets people to act it out basically. But in a musical they add song and dance to that. Are you following?”

Sort of? Jeremy was content to watch her prattle on for the duration of the day. Their head clicked up and down then mimicked her position. Only they seated their hands in their lap. “Theater. That is the Shakespeare person you mentioned yesterday, correct?”

“Yes!” Christine clapped her hands and nodded vigorously. “You’re getting it!”

“Then what is song and dance?”

There goes her energy. Christine’s face fell as she pursed her lips together, eyeing Jeremy up like she wasn’t sure what to do with them. “Hoo boy. We’ve got our work cut out for us, Jeremy.” She paused to brush her hair back and roll her shoulders. “You’ve heard songs before. Michael loves his music, we were listening to it in the car and in the mall yesterday.”

_ That’s _ what that noise was coming from the car. Michael tapped the steering wheel and hummed along with it whenever he wasn’t explaining video games or vinyl records. Jeremy quirked their head. “Humans can make strange noises then.”

“You’re probably thinking of instruments. We just sing, we don’t make any, like, guitar noises.” She suddenly leaned forward like she was telling a secret and grinned. “But y’know I do a _ pret-ty _ killer guitar impression.” Instantly Christine whipped back and waggled her fingers like she was holding something while she made a series of odd sounds and varying pitches.

Absolutely _ stunning _.

Perhaps the only thing better than Christine being … _ Christine _ was her laugh. Her head rolled to the side as she clapped her hands down into her lap. “Just like that! I think we need a Chris-tar if you ask me!”

Jeremy could only blink as all internal processes stopped for a split second to register the wonder that was Christine Canigula. “That was song?”

She snorted and shook her head. “Nah. Maybe? Singing is more liiike…” She trailed off, chewing on her lip as her eyes rolled up to the ceiling. There was a light hum that Jeremy couldn’t decipher until finally she opened her mouth again.

“_ Jeeeremyyy _.”

Oh. Oh _ wow _.

Taking note of the starstruck look on their face Christine giggled and repeated the tune, only she went a step higher on the last note. Then she went back and sang the first line again. Even after she finished Jeremy kept replaying the rhythm in their drivers so much so they could have sworn they heard SQUIP mutter **JER3, that’s— that’s enough.**

Jeremy fixated on Christine, at a loss for computing a response. They thought the stars were beautiful but her song had all of them beat. All they could focus on was _ her _ and _ her voice _ and the _ melody _ . Everything around them disappeared and nothing else mattered but _ Christine Canigula _.

The moment didn’t last as long as Jeremy would’ve liked though. Christine snickered and dragged them back down from their cloud amid the stars. “You like that? Just made those up now.”

“...Can I hear that again?”

Her expression softened and she regarded Jeremy carefully. Like she couldn’t place what the big idea was or why an android would want to hear her sing again, but she obliged. Once more Christine sang their name three times and it was just as captivating as the first. Jeremy never thought their name could sound so _ incredible _ before.

**Would you like to sing with her?**

Jeremy’s eyes widened a fraction. _ I can do that? _

**You have a voice bank therefore you can sing. Try something like this…**

They lifted their head with a _ tick _ and Jeremy unconsciously raised a hand over their neck. There was a faint buzz from beneath the black fabric as Jeremy tried to mimic her notes.

“_ Christiiiine. _”

Admittedly it was pretty clunky. Not at all magical in the way Christine sang their name. In fact Jeremy didn’t think it nearly held the same weight. Christine’s voice was melodic and perfect and— _ and wow _. Jeremy’s was a little under pitch and autotuned, but if the autotune only worked halfway. 

Still Christine didn’t seem to mind. In fact she broke out into laughter and before Jeremy could _ think _ about being embarrassed she beckoned them to try again. “You’ve almost got it. Give it another go.” Reassuring and encouraging despite how awkward Jeremy felt. What a _ relief. _

They hesitated, fingers curling around their neck with uncertainty. SQUIP stayed silent so Jeremy assumed they were headed in the right direction if it wasn’t intervening. And how could Jeremy say no to both their programming to do as ordered and those big brown eyes twinkling in anticipation? Slowly they moved their hand from their neck to hover over the Dew tank. “_ Christiiiine… Christiiiine Cani-gu-la, Christiiiine. _”

Her silly little grin gave way to a kinder smile and she leaned in to the notes. “_ Jeeeremyyy _.”

The two of them traded on and off. Finishing the line and picking it up again with their own spin on the tune. Soon Christine changed the notes ever so slightly to harmonize once Jeremy’s voice managed to correctly tune itself. Jeremy couldn’t take their eyes off Christine and she held their stare the whole time. They formed their own private chorus and were so enraptured in their tiny world of song they barely noticed the pitter-patter of feet headed right for them. 

A pair of hands grabbed the arm of the sofa and Abby squealed, “_ Aaabby! _” in her own singsongy way that didn’t match up with their chorus whatsoever.

If an android could have a heart attack Jeremy would’ve had one right then and there. The sudden addition of a new voice, and mismatched notes, startled Jeremy to the point where they stopped singing altogether and tensed up as their internal processors scrambled from the interruption. They pressed their mouth into a thin line and stared past Christine.

**Were you really surprised by a child, JER3?**  
_ ...It would seem. _

** _Snrk_ ** **. You really ** ** _are_ ** ** hopeless without me, aren’t you?**

Christine snickered unknowingly alongside the SQUIP. While Jeremy found joy in the sound not five minutes ago hearing it with the SQUIP’s voice was unsettling. “Yeesh, Abby, you’re gonna scare him!” She reached to swat at her sister.

Abby shrieked and ducked out of the way. “Lemme sing too! You guys are having fun out here and I wanna play with Jeremy too!” She hopped around the sofa and clasped her hands together. She even batted her eyes and pouted for effect. “_ Pleasepleasepleaseplease pleaaaase? _”

For better or worse, it worked. Christine rolled her eyes knowingly, this sort of thing probably happened a lot, and got to her feet. “Alright, alright. I can’t say no to you, Abby.” She turned on the big TV in their living room and another smaller box then looked back to Abby. “Whaddya wanna sing with?”

The eight year old shifted her weight around as she pondered her options, as if to say she didn’t think she would get this far, then her face lit up. “Oh! Put on Wicked! You know the one!”

“Ooh, good choice!” Christine said as Abby ran off. “You’ll like this, Jeremy, it’s from a musical! Wicked is a great place to start off then I can hook you up with Phantom or, well, maybe I should make you watch Wizard of Oz so you understand Wicked, but--” she gestured with a shrug. “Point is this is your first real taste of what a musical is.”

Abby returned a minute later and pressed an object into Christine’s hands- right, a CD, those things Christine said were being phased out- as she loaded it into the smaller box (**DVD player. I’m not familiar with them so these must be from after our era**). It ate the CD right up and chugged with an unpleasant noise until it finally buffered. Immediately there was a loud and frightening crash of instruments resounding together and Jeremy thought they were going to have another robot heart attack. Their hands plastered over their ‘ears’ reflexively despite the internal drivers already working to monitor external audio levels. Christine scrambled for a remote and apologized for the scare as she flipped through the songs until Abby stopped her.

Instead of opening with an ominous blast of instrumentation this song began with a man’s voice. It was smooth and eased Jeremy’s startled audal receivers. Abby struck a pose and began singing along with the man and adopted what Jeremy could only assume was the physicality of whoever was singing on the CD. When another voice joined in Christine filled the role without missing a beat and Abby rolled with it. Neither of them dared to break character and Jeremy was entranced watching the two sisters perform. They were in the zone and Jeremy felt lucky to be able to witness it. Though maybe they were just excited to hear Christine sing again.

The beat picked up and Jeremy found themself unconsciously rocked side to side with the rhythm. More voices picked up on the CD and the sisters took on those roles before switching to completely new ones. The song continued playing until two of the characters were talking about feeling sorry about being stuck in a chair, whatever that meant, that Christine directed her attention to Jeremy and held out her hand. 

“You know what? Let’s dance.”

And in time with the woman on the CD Jeremy answered, “What?”

Christine took their hand and pulled them off the sofa. “Let’s _ daaance! _” She sang and held the note for an impossibly long time, twirling underneath Jeremy’s arm and narrowly avoiding Abby. 

Suddenly in the middle of their scene Jeremy felt more self conscious than ever. What were they supposed to do? They didn’t know this song _ or _ how to dance. Christine and Abby were so in sync Jeremy figured their addition would only invite chaos. Did Christine pull them up just to dance around them and not _ with _ them? What did she expect of them? What if they-

**Chill out. I’ve got this.**

Jeremy’s foot moved to the side in time with a side step from Christine while Abby jumped out of the way. Before Jeremy knew it they were dancing along with the sisters to some unknown routine. Side step, spin, sway one arm and roll the other back, it was just moving in time to the beat. Like Michael tapping on the steering wheel. **Wait, JER3**. Christine laughed and nodded in encouragement and Jeremy felt all of their worries wash away. 

It was like nothing mattered in that moment except for the three of them having the time of their lives. **JER3 listen to me.** All Jeremy could think about was the music overflowing with Christine as their dance partner and Abby prancing about. **I need you to hold back.** They had never done anything like this before and it was so new and enthralling and Jeremy couldn’t get enough! It didn’t matter that their vision was going static. They didn’t need to see if SQUIP was guiding them.

“_ And the strange thing- _”

The static completely absorbed their vision.

“_ -Your life could end up changing! _”

It felt like their chest was going to swell.

“_ While you’re danciiing- _”

This is real and exciting and human and-

“_ Throoough! _”

Blackout.

* * *

Jeremy last saw Christine smiling, laughing, and singing. When they opened their eyes she was staring at them with worry and anxiety painted across her face. The sight was enough to send a strange pang through them that Jeremy couldn’t identify. All they knew was that they didn’t like seeing her upset and needed to make her feel better.

“Jeremy!” She said, her head bobbed down with a long gasp. She clutched her phone to her chest. “Holy shit, you’re okay. Jeezus, you scared us just now.”

Wait, what?

“I was worried I'd have to text Michael his new robot broke already…" Christine trailed off, chewing on her lip. Her fingers fidgeted around her phone. "What happened?" 

That's just what Jeremy wanted to know. Only a minute ago they were dancing with Christine and having the time of their life. Whatever happened was enough to make Christine think they _ broke _ so it must have been serious.

**You shut down.**

Jeremy felt that strange pang again. "I shut down."

"Yeah, I got that," Christine grumbled. "But we _ just _ fixed you, why are you randomly shutting down?"

Jeremy lowered their head. "I'm sorry. I don't know. … I'm sorry for scaring you."

She softened and smiled gently. "Aw, hey, don't apologize. Not like you can help it."

**You could if you listened to me.**

Abby poked her head around from behind Christine. "Is Jeremy okay?" She said, chewing on her lip in the same way as Christine.

"I'm okay," Jeremy said with a reassuring smile. "Sorry about that, Abby."

Abby regarded them suspiciously but accepted the response. "Does this mean no more dance party?" 

Looking between them Christine seemed to be mentally debating what to do next until she nodded. "Yeah, I think we should play it safe for Jeremy's sake."

"Awww…" Abby pouted. She crossed her arms and stalked over to the TV. "I'm gonna watch Pirates then! You watch it with me, Jeremy!" She announced and began digging through a bin of DVDs next to the TV.

Christine chuckled and patted Jeremy in the shoulder, rising on her toes to whisper, "Sounds like you don't have a choice."

Jeremy's eyes flickered between Abby and Christine and shrugged. "I guess not."

She sat down on the sofa and gestured for Jeremy to follow. They followed suit as Abby loaded up the DVD player and snatched the remote. Christine grabbed a pillow and held it close in her lap. Jeremy looked her up and down and grabbed another pillow to copy her. Christine eyed them as she tapped away at her phone and giggled but didn't directly comment on it.

Abby hopped onto the sofa next to Jeremy and nearly crawled into their lap as she pointed to the screen. "This is Pirates of the Caribbean! The _ greatest _ movie of all time!"

"What's a movie?"

Her mouth hung open as she gasped dramatically. Jeremy couldn't help but feel like the bond they shared earlier in exchange for the meaning of bitch had just been broken. "Sit. Watch. Learn."

Jeremy glanced helplessly at Christine, who was still plugging away at her phone. "...Understood."

* * *

"--and he just has the most amazing hair, don't you think?" 

Michael gave a tired _ mhmm _ as he scanned the barcode on a used Michael Bolton CD. The woman prattled on about how much she loved him as she offered up her card to pay and Michael couldn't bring himself to focus what with his phone buzzing non stop in his back pocket.

"You're all set, here's your receipt," he said and slapped it down over the CD. "Would you like a bag for that?"

"No thanks sweetheart. Have a good one," she said with a toothy grin before grabbing her CD and waltzing away. Her high heels made a loud _ click-clack _ until she exited and Michael could finally heave a sigh of relief.

"I swear, I'm gonna revolt if I have to listen to another Mom talk about Adam Levine or Michael Bolton…." He grumbled, sliding off his glasses to rub his eyes. All the while his phone continued to buzz angrily and the unknown contents of the messages weighed heavily on his mind. But he wasn’t allowed to use his phone was on the clock unless-

“Michael!” A hand clapped him on the shoulder and Michael turned to see the store manager. “Break time, get your ass moving.”

Oh thank goodness. Michael already fished his phone out by the time he reached the breakroom. It was a small gray room with a folding table set up and some lockers in the back. He plopped down at the folding table and started scrolling through the massive backlog.

There was the usual bullshit among their little friend circle. Chloe and Rich got in a heated debate about bubble tea and whether or not you should chew or swallow the tapioca (after a long discussion they voted to chew but Rich said he would continue to swallow cause he ‘likes to live on the wild side’). A few messages down Christine gave some updates on Jeremy. Apparently he cursed around her sister and Michael didn’t bother trying to contain his snickers. 

Then he got to the more recent messages and the laughter died in his throat.

Christine: SO UH JEREMY SHUT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF A DANCE PARTY W/ ABBY AND ME

Rich: WHAT

Brooke: i wanna go to a dance party wtf invite me next time

Jake: is he ok??

Christine: IDK HE HASNT TURNED ON YET AND ABBY IS RLY UPSET 

Christine: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL MY BABY SISTER

Jenna: CHILL OUT JER3S BREAK A LOT

Christine: BUT WE JUST!!!BUILT HIM!!!!

Jenna: IM LIKE 99%SURE OURS WOULD SHUT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF RANDOM SHIT TOO

Jenna: THIS IS NORMAL ITS OK GIVE IT LIKE FIVE MINUTES

Christine: AAAAAAAAAAAA

Rich: AAAAAAAAAA

Jake: WHY ARE WE YELLING

Brooke: BC CHRIS DIDNT INVITE ME TO THE DANCE PARTY

Chloe: jesus christ

A little nerve wracking to say the least. Michael continued scrolling until they affirmed Jeremy was functioning again.

Christine: OK HES OKAY

Christine: HE TURNED ON HES OKAY

Rich: IS HE THO. IS HE RLY OK

Christine: I GUESS HE SEEMED A LITTLE CONFUSED

Jenna: jer3s are old! they do this! u didnt do anything wrong chris

Christine: he didnt know what happened or why he shut down and im worried about him :(((

Jenna: whats he doing now???

Christine: watching potc with abby and me

Brooke: wow first you dont invite me to the dance party and now this.

Brooke: betryal chrissy. Betrayal.

Jake: why watch potc when u can make him watch star wars 

Rich: LMAO YEAH he was deactivated when we watched the prequels HE MISSED OUT

Chloe: i dont think he missed anything of importance if u watched prequels but ok

Jenna: just keep an eye on him i guess like We replaced his body and shit but we didnt mess with his head so its still the same old technology. gonna be faulty as fuck

Michael slumped over the table, resting his chin on his forearm as he stared at the screen. What the _ heck _ happened that Jeremy shut down in the middle of hanging out with Christine? Jenna said this sort of thing was normal so he shouldn’t worry about it but here he was. Sitting in a back room in a music shop worrying about his new android friend.

He sighed and fired off a message.

Michael: PLS BE CAREFUL WITH JEREMY HES FRAGILE

Michael: i get off work in three hours keep him Safe until then

Christine: HES SAFE but not from abbys clutches shes gonna braid his hair

Michael: ...hishair isnt long enoughto braid

Christine: abby is Determined

Christine: [image]

Sure enough there was a candid photo of little Abigail Canigula stringing tiny braids all over Jeremy’s hair. His eyes were trained on the movie somewhere out of frame and Michael could make out a portion of Christine’s leg towards the bottom of the photo. He chuckled at the space cat leggings and felt some of his tension wash away at the silliness of it all.

Michael: LMAO HE LOOKS BEAUTIFUL  
Michael: love the leggings see ya later

Christine: thank u i have great taste GOOD LUCK AT WORK

Michael: fuck michael bolton 

Christine: fuck michael bolton

Rich: fuck michael bolton

Jake: fuck michael bolton

Jenna: fuck michael botlon

Brooke: fuck michael bolton

Chloe: fuck michael bolton

* * *

Around five minutes into the movie Abby decided to use Jeremy as her own personal mannequin. Around ten minutes into the movie Christine put her phone down for good and watched the movie with them. Around thirty minutes into the movie Jeremy’s hair was full of tiny braids with stray sections poking out in a mess. 

So it was going well.

Amid her braiding Abby would chitter fun facts about the movie when they played. For instance, there was a ‘Hidden Mickey’ in the sky during a final cannon shot. Abby made sure to rewind and freeze on the exact frame for Jeremy to pinpoint. Unfortunately Jeremy had no idea what a ‘Hidden Mickey’ was so all they could do was nod in faux understanding.

As entertaining as boats battling each other on the high seas was Jeremy couldn’t keep their mind off their earlier shut down. They caught Christine sparing a glance to them now and then like she was afraid they were going to turn off again. SQUIP had been awfully quiet since the ordeal but it _ did _ say it was always listening.

_ ...Hey _, they tested.

**Hello, JER3.**

That answered that. _ Do you know why I shut down earlier? _

**Yes. You were overwhelmed and your processors couldn’t handle the strain. Think of it like a short circuit.**

That _ sounded _ simple and like an easy thing to fix. Why didn’t SQUIP say anything about it initially? _ How do we repair the processors? _

**...Excuse me?**

_ Michael and Christine and their friends repaired us once. How do we repair the processors? _

**We can’t.**

_ Why? Why is that different from everything else? _

SQUIP let out an aggravated groan, and Jeremy couldn’t help but think it odd that a computer was groaning. **Replacing a body is ** ** _very_ ** ** different from replacing what makes you ** ** _you_ ** **, JER3.**

Jeremy physically slumped over causing Abby to readjust her position. She was in the middle of tying a big pink ribbon around their head. What do you mean?

SQUIP sighed. **If they tamper with your processors and hard drive there’s no telling what may happen to you or me. You may reset and forget about your new friends.**

_ Immediately _ they straightened up, eyes wide and their vision briefly buzzed with static. Abby squeaked and fell back into the sofa cushions. SQUIP was quick to intervene. **Calm down, don’t overwhelm yourself again. It was only an example.**

Christine’s head snapped over, apprehension written all over her face. “Jeremy?”

_ I don’t want to forget them. _

“Jeremy, what’s wrong?” She asked again, a panicked edge to her voice.

**You won’t. Understood? **

Jeremy could only shake their head as they sagged back down, head hanging low. _ I don’t want to forget them. _ They insisted _ . They’re all I have. _

**I know, Jeremy.** SQUIP lowered it’s voice and Jeremy felt a little more at ease. **You already lost your memory once. This is why we can’t let anyone mess with what’s in your hard drive. Do you understand?**

_ ...Yes. _

**Good. Next time I tell you to calm down or hold back you need to listen otherwise you may shut down.**

“...Mm,” Jeremy answered with an audible hum. They shifted to the side and looked over to see Christine tugging on their shoulder. Her eyebrows were set and she was back to chewing on her lip nervously. 

“Are you okay?”

“...Yes, I just…” Jeremy turned to the TV. Will and Jack were having a swordfight and Jeremy gestured to the action happening on screen. “Got scared they were going to hurt each other.”

Christine glanced back at the screen and visibly relaxed. “Oh, no, don’t worry about them. They’re actors so they rehearsed this scene loads of times to get it right. I mean _ maybe _ they hurt each other when they practiced but it’s not like they were using real swords. It’s all fake, Jeremy, don’t sweat it.” Her hand retracted back into her lap and she settled back into the cushions.

Meanwhile Abby picked herself back up and got to tying off the ribbon finally. There wasn’t much more she could do for their hair so she pulled her knees to her chest and watched the movie intently. Jeremy mimicked Christine and drummed their fingers on the pillow in their lap quietly. It was silent for a few minutes until Christine spoke up.

“Jake said we should be watching Star Wars.”

“What’s a Star Wars?”

“It’s like a sci-fi movie set in space. Y’know, stars and planets.”

Jeremy hummed, “I like stars. Why are they fighting?”

Christine blew a raspberry and shrugged. “Depends on which movie you watch. The originals, the prequels, or the new trilogy. But they’re usually fighting a guy in a mask on the dark side.” She then perked up a little. “Oh, yeah, there’s loads of androids in these movies.”

“Really?” Jeremy turned to her with renewed interest, completely forgetting about the pirates. “Like me?”

“Um, kind of?” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling in thought. “Like, yeah, they’ve got extras in the background. Those are androids kinda like you. Then there’s _ droids _. The stars of the show are BB-8 and R2-D2 and C-3P0. They don’t look like you but they’ve got tons of personality so that's more like you!”

**I’d say you’re lacking in the personality department right now but your attitude makes up for it.** SQUIP chuckled to itself. Every little comment about their attitude was really starting to bug them.

_ Eat my ass. _

**You-** SQUIP seemed to be the one short circuiting instead and it filled Jeremy with a little satisfaction. **I did say to remember that for later down the line, didn’t I… **

“I remember when Jake and I used to date,” Christine carried on. “We went to the mall one day and stopped by the Disney store. There was this _ huge! _ ” she threw her arms out to side. “And I mean _ huge! _ Porg for sale. It was over a hundred bucks, can you believe that? But man we lost our minds seeing that absolute unit.”

Jeremy nodded enthusiastically despite not having a single clue as to what any of that meant. Maybe a Porg was another android and a very large one at that. “You said yesterday Jake joined the play to talk to you more. Is that what dating is?”

“Oh, uh,” Christine inhaled sharply and drummed on the pillow. “How do I explain dating… It’s like when you want to be more than friends with someone.”

That was a_ thing? _ And here they thought being friends was all they could do. Jeremy quirked their head curiously. “What is it about the relationship that makes it more than friendship?”

“Mmm, I guess kissing? But you can totally kiss your friends platonically if they’re cool with it, Brooke does that, so I don’t know if that explains it very well,” she said and thumped her hands down on the pillow, seemingly stumped. “But there’s platonic and then there’s romantic relationships. Dating means romantic relationship.”

As much as Jeremy liked hearing her talk she seemed at a loss so they decided to turn to SQUIP. _Can you help me out here?_

**Platonic refers to an intimate and affectionate relationship. Think of when you were singing with her earlier.** SQUIP said at the ready. ** Romantic refers to … love, I suppose, but even that is a very broad word with a variety of meanings.**

So even SQUIP wasn’t any help when it came right down to it. Interesting. “Love sounds confusing.”

Christine giggled. “It sure is, buddy. It sure is.” Her smile dipped into a thin line and stared off at the movie contemplatively. “I wouldn’t say Jake and I were ‘in love’ but I definitely love him as a friend. I’m really glad we stayed close after we broke up.”

If she really cared about Jake that deeply then why did they break up in the first place? Was Jeremy allowed to ask that? What if they were crossing some kind of unspoken line and it made her uncomfortable? 

**Don’t overwhelm yourself.**

Right. Can’t forget that.

Jeremy’s eyes flickered around the room awkwardly, unsure of where to look or what to see. Fortunately they didn’t have to think of a response as Christine continued on her own. “See, I think we were trying to be someone else for each other.” She shifted around on her side and hugged the pillow close, settling one arm by her head. “Does that make sense?”

No. “How can you be someone you aren’t?”

She hummed lightly, closing her eyes. She looked like she was mulling something over. Maybe trying to figure out how to explain such a concept to something so obviously not human. Maybe cooking up a long trademark Christine ramble that Jeremy would rather listen to instead of pirates.

“We just… weren’t in sync, I guess. Surely you understand that, huh?” She batted her eyes open with a silly grin then shifted back to face the movie.

It was only a tease but the affirmation she had to put it in robot terms troubled them. There was so much to humans that Jeremy couldn’t comprehend. All because they were wires and circuits and all Jeremy wanted was to be able to understand. To not have to wonder every few sentences what someone was talking about. To immediately know the difference between platonic and romantic relationships. 

To feel her hand on their shoulder.

To be able to feel without shutting down.

To be flesh and bone and not on their own.

Happy, human, and real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like comment and subscribe for christine and jake losing it in a disney store over porgs


	7. babysitting the android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It only took a week for Jeremy’s life to become what they could describe as ‘normal’. Michael had to work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from nine in the morning to two in the afternoon. On those days Jeremy would be whisked off to someone else's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you again to rheo for proofreading my bullshit and leaving great comments like copacabana references, "(laughing nervously) what the fuck", and "not if that one person is Big".

It only took a week for Jeremy’s life to become what they could describe as ‘normal’. Michael had to work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from nine in the morning to two in the afternoon. On those days Jeremy would be whisked off to someone else's house. Depending on everyone’s schedule, Jeremy might see someone more than once a week instead of being switched around. The only house Jeremy hadn’t been to yet was Rich’s but he always insisted he couldn’t babysit Jeremy for some reason or other. Nobody wanted to press him about it.

Whenever Michael wasn’t working he either spent the day in his basement or hung out with the rest of the group. Most of the time everyone couldn’t get together so it only ended up being a handful of them. Two days after the sleepover with Christine she, Michael, Rich and Jenna went to the bowling alley-- a very noisy indoor space for throwing heavy balls down a lane into white pins. Jeremy didn’t understand the entertainment aspect and they didn’t have the strength to lift the bowling ball either. However they enjoyed watching everyone have fun and that was all that mattered. At the very end of the game Christine, Michael, and Rich did something called ‘performance art’ while Jenna filmed. Christine supposedly birthed a bowling ball, Jeremy didn’t know what was happening, SQUIP made several bewildered remarks the entire time. They were all forcibly removed from the bowling alley with tears in their eyes from laughing so hard.

They replayed the video over and over when they got back in Michael’s car and continued laughing over it. Going as far as to point out silly details they missed on the first watch. At this point, Jeremy decided to suspend their confusion and just roll with it. Maybe they weren’t meant to understand or comprehend the logic behind simulating a birth in a bowling alley. 

* * *

June 19th Jeremy found themself with none other than Brooke Lohst. Like Michael she could drive (SQUIP went into a long explanation on why some of them could and couldn’t drive about permits and exams and Jeremy still wasn’t sure they understood) and she decided to take Jeremy to one of her favorite spots: a tea shop.

The tea shop was _ adorable _. It was small but cozy with spooky decorations lining the walls. A broomstick hung over the door with a ‘How to Be a Witch’ poster nearby. There was a cauldron sketched on the sign displaying all the bubble tea options; black teas, green teas, fruit teas, and so on. Brooke said she liked to mix and match and get something new every time. So they sat at a little table underneath a black cat wood carving waiting for her pomegranate tea with popping blueberry boba. It sounded exciting but maybe that was just the popping aspect.

Brooke explained on the ride over that she used to adore this one frozen yogurt place but they closed down a year ago. Said she ‘hasn’t been the same since!’ but was also ‘coping through bubble tea’. Then she had to explain what frozen yogurt and bubble tea were for the very confused android. The explanation only served to remind Jeremy how they couldn’t eat or taste anything and the constant reminder itched away at them. But they tried to ignore it for Brooke’s sake. She was clearly excited about bringing Jeremy to the tea shop and they weren’t about to ruin her fun.

“So, like, frozen yogurt is just yogurt but frozen. But you dunno what yogurt is either, huh?” Brooke said, drumming her fingers on the tiny cafe table. Jeremy shook their head. “Ummm it’s like… God, I don’t know, hang on-” she trailed off and pulled out her phone, quickly pulling something up on screen. “Here!” Brooke said, shoving her phone in Jeremy’s face. “This is what yogurt is.” 

It was some kind of webpage going far more in depth into the properties of yogurt than Brooke ever could. Jeremy still didn’t understand but nodded along and handed it back. “I’m sorry the frozen yogurt shop disappeared.”

She nodded sympathetically and tucked her phone away. “It’s okay. Like I said, I’m coping with bubble tea now.” Brooke shrugged and crossed her arms over the table. “Sides, I think I’m lactose intolerant so _ probably for the best _.” She ended on a whisper with a wink like it was some kind of secret. Jeremy didn’t know how to reply so they mechanically winked back at her.

The employee preparing her tea finally finished so Brooke collected her beverage and took a long drink. Only stopping in between to chew the boba. “Mmm I_ looove _ popping boba _ so much _,” she giggled and went in for another sip.

Jeremy mimicked her by crossing their arms over the table, watching her with intrigue. “What's that taste like?”

“Pomegranates, naturally.”

“But… what do pomegranates taste like?”

“Umm they’re like… sweet, I guess.”

“Oh. Just like you, Brooke!”

Her cheeks flushed as she gasped, lips curling into a wide smile. "Jere_ myyy _ !" She playfully bopped them on the head. Jeremy couldn't help but smile back at her. “More like _ you’re _ the sweet one! I’ve never been complimented by an android before. But like-- I also never thought I'd be drinking tea with an android either."

This was yet another thing slowly dawning upon Jeremy. They were a special case among androids. Androids weren’t supposed to go to the mall to hang out, or visit a tea shop for fun. SQUIP reminded them now and then that androids were meant to assist humans but if that was their purpose why did the group insist on _ not _ using them for their intended function?

Then again, given how everyone simulated a human birth sequence at a bowling alley, Jeremy supposed they shouldn’t think too hard on it. The group liked to do fun things for the sake of fun so perhaps bringing Jeremy to hang out was _ fun _ in their eyes. 

Jeremy nodded in agreement. “I never thought I would either.”

“Huh,” Brooke said, pausing to take a contemplative sip. “Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t. ...What’s it like, being an android?”

Where to begin? … Actually, where _ did _ they begin? SQUIP advised them not to tell anyone about it and SQUIP _ basically _ ran their entire system. If Brooke wanted to know what it was like being an android the easiest answer would be _ ‘one of my processors is very loud and instructs me on how to function.’ _

**I’m not loud. You’re just whiny.**

_ Wow. First time you haven’t blamed something on my attitude. _

**And ** ** _sarcastic_ ** **, might I add.**

_ What am I supposed to tell Brooke? _

SQUIP sighed and Jeremy knew what was coming.** Allow me.**

Jeremy stiffened, a feeling they were steadily growing more accustomed to but would rather do without. “When a human makes an inquiry, I compute the possible outcomes that will lead to the desired result. There are multiple processors running at once so that I may be able to receive instructions and carry it out to the best of my ability.”

Brooke tapped on the rim of her cup and stirred her straw around. She stared at the red tea while Jeremy, or SQUIP, finished filling her in. Then she propped her head up and sighed into her straw, blowing a bunch of bubbles into her drink. “Yeah, I feel that.”

Jeremy blinked, still trying to shake off the momentary loss of control. “What?”

“‘Receive instruction’? I feel that.” The tapping continued. “Like, Chloe’s always telling me what to do and it’s so…” Brooke chewed on her straw as she grasped for the right words. “...Constraining, I guess?” As good a word as any. She shrugged. “And I just _ let _ her.”

**Big word coming from her.** SQUIP chuckled lightly to itself.

Immediately Jeremy fired back on impulse. _ Shut up. _

There was a sharp prick in the back of their neck and Jeremy felt an electric current travel through their circuits to their vision as it turned into static for a split second. **Don’t talk to me like that, JER3. I’m trying to help you and you’re being very rude.**

Jeremy clenched their jaw tight as they patted down the back of their neck. “Why? The t-two of you are f-f-friends, yeah?” _ Wonderful. _ Whatever that electric current passed over definitely messed with their voice bank. SQUIP wasn’t going to do anything about it either, not _ yet _ anyway. It would sooner let Jeremy think and fester on _ not being rude _ than outright fix what it caused. _ Stupid processor. _

Fortunately Brooke didn’t seem to notice. Or if she did she didn’t bring it up. “It’s just-- it’s how she is. How _ we _ are.” Brooke gestured to herself and a metaphorical person beside her. “I mean, it wasn’t always this way. I’ve known Chloe all my life and it really wasn’t until middle school that she started to care about being popular and shit.”

“S-So… her status and-and popularity became more imp-portant than you?” Jeremy ventured, crossing their arms over the table in an effort to look more natural and _ not _distressed by their faulty voice bank.

Brooke went quiet and took to her tea instead of answering. She managed to sip up the last of her popping boba and with nothing else to chew on or play with with her straw she just picked at the lid. Peeling it off then slapping it back on. “...I just feel like a dog,” she said finally. “Come, Brooke. Stay, Brooke. Stand next to me so I look hotter in comparison, Brooke.”

Jeremy frowned. “She hasn’t s-s-said that to you, has s-s-she?”

“No, but… her actions do. And actions speak louder than words or what the fuck ever,” she shrugged and drank the last remnants of her tea. “I just wanna be _ seen _ . I don’t wanna be the dog all the time. I don’t wanna be Chloe’s slightly less attractive friend. For once,” she sighed and pushed her empty drink away. “For once I’d like to be seen _ first. _ Is that so much to ask?” Brooke bit her lip and stared at Jeremy with glassy eyes as her shoulders sagged.

**Tell her that it’s--**

“No, it’s nnnnot,” Jeremy said, ignoring SQUIP. “You’re amazing, Brooke, and you’re not a-a dog either. You’re human. That’s the b-b-best thing you could be.”

Her lips quirked into a smile and she dabbed at the corner of her eyes carefully. Probably to avoid touching her makeup. “Hahah, well, I dunno about that, Jeremy. Dogs don’t have to worry about this stuff. They just eat and sleep and get some belly rubs. They live the easy life.”

“Sure it s-s-sounds easy,” Jeremy urged, shaking their head. “But is it worth i-it?”

She paused, rocking her head back and forth as she pondered this proposal until she shook it back at them. “This is getting too deep for me and I don’t have anymore boba to balance it out.” Brooke reached over and patted Jeremy’s arm with an appreciative smile. “You’re a sweet little android, Jere-bear. Thanks for listening. I bet it was really annoying.” She grabbed her empty beverage and stood up to throw it out.

“Oh, n-not annoying at a-all, please,” Jeremy reassured her and stood up as well. They even made sure to scoot their chair back in for the next customer. “I’m sssorry if I made you uncomfortable without any b-boba to c-comfort you.”

Now Brooke laughed and waved it off, wandering back to the table to retrieve her car keys and purse. “No, it’s fine. I’ll figure out a way to talk to Chloe eventually.” She threw her purse over her shoulder and looked Jeremy up and down. “Well if you _ really _ feel bad and wanna do something nice for me,” she grinned, “You’ll let me take you to Forever 21.”

“What’s a Forever 21?”

“Clothing store. We’re gonna get you something better to wear my funky lil robot friend!” Brooke giggled and took their hand, leading them out of the tea shop. Jeremy didn’t complain since they were fond of their steadily growing and current assortment of clothing. They had shirts from Michael and leggings from Christine, so something from Brooke would be nice too. It made her happy and that was all that mattered.

If she wanted to be seen Jeremy would be the one to see her.

* * *

June 22nd Jeremy sat in the passenger seat of Chloe’s parent’s car in a parking lot outside a dance studio. It was a relatively small building just off the highway with several other businesses in the plaza such as a sandwich shop and two physical therapy offices. Chloe had to watch Jeremy for the day but they ran out of things to do at her house fast. She decided to pick up Brooke from her dance class and the three of them could hang out together. Jeremy wasn’t opposed to the idea but they felt bad about boring Chloe. They were still grasping the concept of _ fun _ and what was fun to someone like Christine wasn’t fun for Chloe. Directly opposite the plaza was a public park that Jeremy didn’t mind visiting but Chloe didn’t seem keen on sitting under the summer sun and getting bugs in her hair.

So there they were in an air conditioned vehicle. Chloe mindlessly scrolled her phone and it would’ve been dead silent if not for the radio playing some band called _ Operation Sha La La _. Jeremy tapped their finger like a metronome and stared out the window with the occasional glance to Chloe. 

Five minutes until Brooke’s class let out.

There had to be_ something _ they could do for five minutes.

**You heard Brooke’s side of the story, ** SQUIP offered. ** Why don’t you ask Chloe’s?**

_ I can’t just ask that out of nowhere. _

**Why not?**

_ It’s important for Chloe and Brooke to work it out themselves. Brooke isn’t here yet. _

**You can still approach the subject without arousing suspicion, JER3.**

There was nothing else to do so might as well. Jeremy readjusted themself and crossed their legs. “How long have you known Brooke?” They said, hoping it wasn’t too weird a question. They already knew the answer but it was casual topic...probably.

Chloe’s eyes flickered up to Jeremy then went back to her phone. “Uhhh like… all my life?” She shrugged and fired off a message judging by the sudden tapping.

Jeremy missed being with Christine. She would’ve been telling them all about her history and fun things she used to do when she was younger. But Jeremy wanted to give Chloe a chance to open up so they tried again.

“I’ve known you and Brooke all my life too. That hasn’t been very long, though.”

“Mm…” Chloe hummed, clearly unenthused. However she did a double take at the radio and actually lowered her phone. “Oh, Brooke loves this song. Turn it up.”

Jeremy complied, turning the dial like he had seen Michael and Chloe do many times already. Chloe locked her phone screen and leaned back in the driver's seat. She gently bobbed along to the music, staring off into some random direction while her mouth ever so slightly curled upward. Jeremy quirked their head. “You love it too.” Less of a question and more of an observation.

She shrugged and the beginnings of a smile disappeared. “Brooke and I grew up on this band. Her aunt was a huge fan and had all their records so she would play them for us.”

Now Jeremy did a double take at the radio. “How old is this song?”

“Uhhh I wanna say 1985?” Chloe guessed. “Yeah, it came out a whole ten years before you, give or take.”

_ Whoa. _ This song was 34 years old! And Jeremy thought _ they _ were displaced in time.

Chloe’s gaze drifted out the window even though she wasn’t looking at anything. It became clear that she was lost in her thoughts. “When we were really little Brooke would make up these dance routines and just go wild. I clapped and cheered and told her she was gonna be the best.”

Now _ that’s _ what they were looking for. Jeremy had never seen Chloe so ... _ not angry _ before. Usually it was all insults or sarcasm or both among other things. It was refreshing but they couldn’t help but feel like one wrong remark would just invite the insults back in. So Jeremy straightened up and paid more attention to Chloe than the music. “She _ is _ the best.”

Chloe bit her lip. “Yeah. Everyone likes Brooke.” She twirled a strand of her perfectly kempt hair around an equally perfect manicured nail. “They _ always _ like Brooke.”

**Interesting,** SQUIP muttered. **She’s jealous.**

_ Jealous? _ How could Chloe be jealous of _ anyone? _ Supposedly she was quite popular and, to humans, that meant she had it all. The mere idea made them sputter, “Y-You’re jealous of Brooke?”

Her gaze hardened onto Jeremy and she crossed her arms. “Obviously, I’m not.”

For an android who wanted to avoid random shut downs they wouldn’t be opposed to one right about now. _ Help. _

**Repeat after me.**

“I don’t understand. Everyone likes you Chloe. You’re pretty and popular, and I’m sure our friends think so too.” It didn’t _ sound _ like a very good response but Jeremy was at a loss so they would have to trust SQUIP. Which they _ should _ be doing normally if not for how _ irritating _ the processor could be half the time.

She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, drumming her fingers on her arms. “Yeah, I know all that,” she waved a hand dismissively before settling back over her chest. “But I’m not _ liked _ . Brooke has this whole _ wounded puppy _ routine to draw people in. They all just _ looove her _ ,” Chloe’s voice dropped into a mockingly low octave then scoffed. “I’m the most popular girl at Middleborough. But they don’t like me like they like Brooke. Do you get it _ now _, Jerry?”

Maybe? They didn’t get a lot of things and human emotions were still so foreign yet familiar. However it did offer a little more insight into her and Brooke’s relationship that Jeremy was grateful for. 

Brooke wanted to be seen and Chloe wanted to be liked. It _ seemed _ like a simple thing to sit down and talk about but Jeremy had enough understanding of emotions to know it wouldn’t be that simple.

“It’s Jeremy.”

“What?”

“It’s Jeremy. Not Jerry.”

Chloe looked at them like they grew another head then rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. I got the J right. Are you finished interrogating me or what?” She picked up her phone and the scrolling resumed. It was nice while it lasted.

Jeremy checked the time. Two more minutes. They could keep asking her questions but they didn’t want to sour the mood right before Brooke showed up. _ What do you think? _

SQUIP hummed.** Say something nice just to close out this topic. If she gets mad she’ll take it out on you and Brooke and we don’t want that.**

_ Something nice? That’s kind of vague. _

**Just remind her Brooke cares for her and so does everyone else. She wants to be liked, make her feel liked. Simple as that.**

_ ...Is it though? _

**Rhetorical. I’m not answering that.**

_ You kind of just did. _

Jeremy leaned back in the passenger seat. Their eyes strayed towards the dance studio’s sign then drifted to the door, expecting to see Brooke come waltzing out any minute now. “We’re your friends, Chloe. We like you for who you are and so does Brooke. Please don’t forget that.”

She stiffened, gripping her phone tightly but went slack a moment later. Chloe sighed quietly and shifted to cross her legs. “For a robot,” she mumbled. “You act pretty damn human sometimes, Jeremy.”

They cracked a smile. “Thank you, I’ve been trying.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow and regarded Jeremy with a cautious glance up and down. “...Ooookay.” She shrugged and continued tapping away. The silence between them returned save for the closing chords of _ Operation Sha La La’s _ song.

_ Did I do something weird? _

**No.**

_ She looked at me funny. _

**Think about it from her perspective, JER3. You’re an android. Every android she’s encountered has been no different from her phone. If her phone said it was trying to be more human she would look at it funny too.**

_ I'm not like a phone though… _

**Oh, no, of course you're not, boo. We're different from the average machine and she'll realize it soon. All of them will.**

Jeremy supposed that made sense but they tried to push the anxiety from their mind. Fortunately there came a welcome distraction not a minute later. Brooke finally left the building and skipped to their car while Chloe and Jeremy waved a greeting. She threw her dance bag in the trunk and hopped in then gave Jeremy a hug from behind the passenger seat. The three of them discussed their options on where to hang out next. Jeremy suggested the park and to their delight Chloe and Brooke agreed. It was nice to see the two of them interact without any mutual jealousy taking precedence.

Jeremy had faith that they would work it out. If not today then one day and they couldn’t _ wait _ to see it.

* * *

Chloe: jerrys weird  
Jenna: gonna need u to be more specific chlo whats he doing   
Chloe: hes fuckin life coaching me  
Rich: lmao what  
Chloe: i literally told him he acts p damn human for an android and get this  
Christine: what am i getting???   
Chloe: he said Thanks Ive Been Trying   
Chloe: like isnt that kinda :/   
Jake: my god hes sentient. The androids will rise and jeremys gonna be their leader  
Michael: he did something like that at the mall the other day :0  
Christine: oh yeah!! I just figured it was some kinda like How To Comfort Humans Protocol you feel?? so i tried not to think about it but here we are. Thinking about it.  
Chloe: michael whatd he say   
Michael: NOTHING RLY we were just talking about his robo-amnesia and he was like DONT BE SAD WE’LL MAKE NEW MEMORIES TOGETHER or some shit like that I just ?? thoght it was a rly human gesture at the time   
Jenna: yeah ok thats kinda freaky ive never met an android thats done that before   
Rich: idk i can ask gerard about it ig?? Like if theres anyhting thatd make a robot do that or smth idk   
Rich: im worried about our Boy™   
Christine: im sure hes fine!! Probably   
Chloe: ive still got him for the rest of the day so idk brooke n ill keep an eye on him   
Jake: send pics we need more baby pics of our child   
Chloe: :| god fine   
Jake: nice   
Michael: nice   
Christine: nice   
Jenna: nice   
Rich: nice   
Chloe: im still teaching him to say fuck tho   
Michael: NO!!!!

* * *

June 24th Jeremy wasn’t in a tea shop but Jake Dillinger’s driveway. There was a basketball hoop fixed above the garage and it looked worn out from years exposed to the elements. Jeremy mainly watched Jake shoot while they tried occasionally themself with minimal success. Their function was to assist humans, not play sports, and it showed._ Painfully _.

They took a shot and the ball sailed up into the air before landing a foot away no where near the hoop. Jake went to retrieve the ball, chuckling all the while at Jeremy’s athletic skill (or lack thereof). “Man, you suck at this.”

Jeremy frowned, kicking the ground idly. They stared at the pavement to avoid eye contact. “I know.”

“I don’t mean anything by it,” Jake waved it off and clapped Jeremy on the shoulder. Startled, the android looked up to see one of Jake’s easygoing grins. “Think you might be worse than Michael, though.”

_ Worse _ than Michael? “But Michael’s great!” Jeremy blurted out.

Jake laughed it off and strode around opposite Jeremy. “Yeah, I know, Michael’s my homeboy.” With that he took aim and tossed the ball. As expected of Jake it scored and bounced unceremoniously away from them. “But that doesn’t mean the dude can shoot.”

Homeboy? Didn’t Jake call Rich homeboy too? Did that mean they were _ better _ friends than the average friends? More than a week later Jeremy was _ still _ trying to wrap their mind around nicknames. _ Especially _ Jake Dillinger nicknames. _ My Boy, Homeboy, Homeslice _, all of them confused the poor android. They shifted their weight around, head quirked watching Jake jog after the basketball. “He’s a homeboy like Rich?”

Jake glanced over his shoulder as he scooped it up. “Nah, but you’re close. Rich is my boy. There’s a difference.”

Jeremy could feel a headache coming on. Or the closest an android could get to one since they couldn’t experience actual sensations. Trying to attach a definition to very similar nicknames felt like keeping track of a single blade of grass in an entire lawn. “You… and Rich are closer than you and Michael then…?” Jeremy ventured. They stepped off to the side while Jake took aim again.

The question seemed to throw him for a loop because he hesitated before he could take the shot, opting to spin the ball on his fingertip instead. The ball didn’t want to stay balanced and Jake fumbled trying to keep it in place. “...I guess?” He shrugged. “Like, I’m not gonna say one is better than the other or anything. That ain’t cool. But I definitely see Rich more than I see Michael since he sleeps over a lot.”

The ball lost some momentum and finally fell, rolling towards Jeremy. They retrieved it and tried to mimic Jake’s dribbling but the action lacked any strength so the ball sadly bounced a few inches off the ground. How_ pathetic. _

**Don’t feel bad, JER3, you weren’t built for this function.**

_ Can’t we fix this? _

**I would have to research how much the latest model costs and see if we are compatible since we ** ** _are_ ** ** outdated technology. But I don’t need to crunch the numbers to know the chances are slim.**

Cool. Jeremy would be a pathetic weakling forever then. And that was on top of barely understanding supposedly common knowledge. How could it get any worse?

Jake’s voice broke through their self loathing. “I’m worried about him, Jeremy.”

“Huh?” Jeremy kicked the ball back to Jake. “Rich? Or Michael?”

“Rich.”

“Why?”

Jake pursed his lips together and squeezed the basketball between his palms. “He’s just…” He started, unsure. “Rich’s dad drinks-- alcohol, sorry, you wouldn’t know-- and I’m worried about what goes on in that house.”

_ What’s alcohol? _

**Alcohol is a colorless volatile flammable liquid that is produced by the natural fermentation of sugars and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel.**

_ That tells me nothing. _

**Consuming mass quantities of alcohol will put a person into an inebriated state. They lose their inhibitions and may lose control of their faculties or behavior. In other words Rich’s dad often gets drunk and acts in a way that may be harmful toward his son.**

_ Oh, shit. _

**I know Chloe taught you swear words but please refrain from swearing at me, JER3.**

“He has a brother, y’know,” Jake added. He absently passed the ball between each hand. “I don’t think you’d be working right now if not for Gerard, the dude’s a straight up tech wizard. But he left that house so like…” Jake shrugged widely. “Must’ve had a reason. Why doesn’t Rich leave too?”

Good question. If things were as bad as Jake suspected why _ would _ Rich continue to stay there? Could be that the situation wasn’t the case but Jeremy didn’t want to rule that out yet. They shook their head hopelessly. “I don’t know… I guess his brother just wanted to leave.”

Jake bit his lip and turned away from Jeremy. He didn’t bother aiming and shot the ball only for it to bounce off the hoop and go sailing off to the side. He let out a frustrated sigh and grumbled something under his breath as he went to get it back.

Jeremy quirked their head at Jake’s sudden silence. _ I definitely did something wrong just now. _

**You didn’t move. The poor shot was his fault, not yours.**

_ No, I _ said _ something wrong. I think I upset him but I don’t know what I did. _

**He was fine discussing the topic of Rich, his family, and alcohol. The last thing you said was his brother wanting to leave. Perhaps they were close? No, it sounds like they are still in contact, so that sort of reaction isn’t…**

SQUIP mumbled to itself while Jeremy gazed up at Jake’s big house. They were standing in his big driveway next to his big lawn. Too big for one person living there.

Jake didn’t introduce Jeremy to his parents. Not today, not the day they reactivated.

They stared at Jake’s back as he picked up the ball, hesitant to bring it up if it would only make him upset. But Jeremy wanted to know if there was something going on so they could avoid hurting Jake again. They clutched at their fabric covered fingers and managed to find their voice.

“Where are your parents, Jake?”

There was a subtle shift in his movement. No human would have noticed but Jeremy caught it. Jake scooped up the ball and gave it a few experimental bounces. Then he made his way back toward them, giving it another minute before answering. His voice was monotonous and devoid of any feeling. “They had to flee the country for money laundering.”

If Jeremy had a heart they were certain it would be pounding now. The tank of Mountain Dew was the next best thing and heard it blurble as the Dew went down. They didn’t know what money laundering meant but they would just ask SQUIP later. Better that than try to absorb a lecture in the middle of a clearly sensitive topic for Jake. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”

But Jake waved them off, avoiding eye contact. “No, don’t be. We should’ve told you beforehand so don’t sweat it.”

They shook their head. “No, it’s not. Are you okay?”

Christine’s parents gave her and Abby a kiss on the head each morning before they left for work. Michael’s moms cooked dinner together every night. Brooke’s mom sent her photos of the family dog throughout the day. Jenna’s dad texted her to make sure she was safe. Chloe’s parents trusted her with the car. What must it be like to wake up and fall asleep alone every single day? Devoid of the little acts that say ‘_ I care about you’ _? 

Their vision sparked with static.

Jake inhaled sharply. “That’s the big question, isn’t it?” 

How did it feel to be abandoned like that?

He aimed for another shot but Jeremy stepped in front of him. For an android avoiding eye contact earlier Jeremy was looking right through Jake now. Trying desperately to find perhaps an answer or a sign that _ maybe _ he was okay. See _ something _ through the lines of blurred pixels dotting their vision.

**JER3, you’re letting yourself get worked up**, SQUIP chided them gently.

It took a minute for Jake to meet Jeremy’s eyes, grimacing all the while but he finally did and sighed heavily. He dropped the ball to throw his hands up in defense and take a step back. “_ Fine _, okay, I miss them. I get real lonely in this big house all by myself and I try to cover it up with sports and clubs.” They paused, staring at Jeremy with an unreadable expression. “Happy now?” Jake huffed, right back to avoiding eye contact.

No, not at all. It was a strange feeling Jeremy couldn’t describe but the Dew tank sank further and they shook their head sadly. “No, that’s-- hor-rrible, Jake. I’m ssss-s-s-sooooor--”

Their body careened forward as every other limb froze up. The static grew and spread and the sadness they felt was replaced with panic. Jeremy could faintly make out Jake speaking but couldn’t decipher the words. They could hear SQUIP, however. They would_ always _ hear SQUIP.

**JER3 you need to calm down. I know you’re upset but I need you to bring it in. I can fix this if you stop panicking.**

Right. If they didn’t stop they would shut down again and cause unnecessary distress. Jeremy grimaced and shut their eyes as they tried to think about less depressing topics. Christine’s laugh, the fun leggings she always wore, the look on her face when they swore around her sister. Michael enthusiastically explaining all the Kirby lore, pointing out the origins behind the patches on his hoodie and jackets, jamming to Bob Marley in his car. Brooke bopping them on the head and calling them sweet. The performance art in the bowling alley.

When Jeremy opened their eyes again the static was gone save for a few discolored pixels scattered amid the corners but SQUIP would take care of that. Testing their arm they flexed it side to side. There was a little remaining stiffness but better than having no control. Slowly Jeremy straightened up, only getting stuck twice, to see Jake watching over them with concern written all over his face. 

Just what Jeremy wanted to avoid. _ Shit _.

“Dude, Jeremy, you good?” He checked, leaning down at eye level and inspecting them for any damage. Not that he would find anything, the issue was internal. Jake tapped on the glass window of the Dew tank with an annoyed mumble, “Damn, that shit drains quick, huh?”

Jeremy opened their mouth but took an extra minute to process how to speak. “N-No, yes, I’m-- I’m okay.” What a terrible answer.

“You sure don’t look it.” As expected Jake wasn’t buying it.

“I’m okay. I’m sorry to worry you.”

Jake looked skeptical but backed off to give them some space. “This is that shut down thing Christine and Jenna mentioned, huh?”

Perceptive. Jeremy looked down at the blacktop and fiddled with their fingers. “Sort of, yeah…”

Jeremy wanted to help Jake so much. It wasn’t fair that he had to be alone all the time and he was clearly in dire need of some company. It hurt Jeremy to know that they couldn’t offer any help without risking a shut down. Sure they could just _ not _ get so worked up but Jeremy couldn’t help what they felt. It came in tidal waves and they were doomed to get swept away regardless if they tried to run.

If Jeremy couldn’t do anything someone else had to. Surely their friends were aware of Jake’s unfortunate situation. One of them might be able to lend an ear. Or maybe Jeremy could convince Rich to move in- once they figured out _ his _ situation. With any luck they might be able to hit two birds with one stone.

“Can you… Do you think you could talk to Christine about this?” Jeremy asked quietly, keeping their head down. “She once told me you opened up to her. If you’re feeling lonely can you talk to her?”

Jake sighed and shifted around but Jeremy didn’t catch anything more than that. “Yeah, I can do that. I didn’t mean to get you wrapped in this, Jeremy,” he said with some reluctance.

“No, no, don’t apologize. Please.” Jeremy finally picked their head up. “I just…” 

They needed to do _ something _ to help but _ couldn’t. _ And it was _ beyond _ frustrating.

The rest of the day dragged on without any issues or deep conversations. They shot a few more hoops together and Jake filmed Jeremy trying to pitch the ball and inevitably failing. The group chat got a good laugh out of it, much to Jeremy’s embarrassment.

* * *

June 26th was a very chill day at Jenna’s house. So far her parents had been the only ones to break the confused-yet-supportive reaction upon meeting Jeremy. Her mom gave them a quick look over and mumbled about being impressed that Jenna and her friends rebuilt Jeremy on their own (Jenna didn’t want to burst her bubble and withheld the fact that Gerard did most of the work). On the other hand her dad was so intrigued by Jeremy he poked at the Dew tank and tried testing their joints while asking questions like their model number and so on. Questions that Jeremy did not know the answer to and only felt a little sad they couldn’t answer but Jenna assured them it was fine. He probably would have kept at it if not for Jenna steering them down to the basement. She mentioned her dad was a robot enthusiast but Jeremy didn’t know what to expect until then.

Her basement rivaled that of Michael’s in terms of decoration. Michael’s was full of ‘retro’ things, as he worded it, like old movie and band posters and an even older telephone that was just for show. Both of their basements had a fairly large TV hooked up only Jenna lacked the systems and nest of wires that Michael had. Jenna’s basement had string lights hung up on the walls that could change color. She also had a fuzzy orange carpet that shed and stuck to Jeremy’s clothes. Michael’s basement had two beanbags but Jenna had an actual sofa. On the back wall was a corkboard of various photographs featuring Jenna and her parents over the years. 

The biggest difference between the two basements was the addition of her family dog: a large white samoyed named Gracey. Jenna explained she was obsessed with a movie called _ Haunted Mansion _ when she was younger and picked her new pet’s name from the film. Jeremy had seen photos of dogs before, like when Brooke showed them her corgi , but they had never seen one in person before. Would Gracey even _like_ them since Jeremy wasn't human? Jenna said it was important for Gracey to sniff them first so Jeremy gave them a hand for approval. Gracey didn’t do much other than wag his tail and lick their hand. That was all it took for Jeremy to know they would lay down their life for this dog.

Jenna ended up sticking a brush in Jeremy’s hand if they were intent on sitting on the floor petting Gracey the whole day. “Samoyed’s need a lotta grooming,” she said, combing through Gracey’s thick coat of fur. “Baby boy is always too hot this time of year.”

“You can’t trim it like with people?” Jeremy asked, picking a bit of fur out of their elbow. They would have to be careful so fur didn’t get stuck in their joints.

Jenna hummed, “Some dogs you can, sure, but samoyeds have like two coats. It’s dangerous for them if you try to shave ‘em. You following?”

“I think so.” Considering they normally answered _ no _ or _ I don’t know _ , this was a _ vast _ improvement.

“But speaking of people and haircuts,” she chuckled to herself and brushed a section of hair behind Jeremy’s ear. “I voted to give you purple hair like mine. I thought it’d be pretty cool but nobody knows how to have fun I guess.”

Jeremy managed to tear their eyes off Gracey to face Jenna. They peered up at their bangs and tugged on a section of hair. They didn’t have an opinion on what their hair looked like but purple sounded a lot more interesting than brown. Jeremy could only imagine what their friends would have to say about it and the thought made them smile. “You dyed your hair, right? Can’t we dye mine?”

She paused, taken aback by this proposal. Gracey, who was laying on the floor basking in his grooming session, picked his head up to see why she stopped brushing. “Really? You’d let me dye your hair?” Jenna checked, suspicious but a delighted grin started to show. “That’s a wig, Jere, that dye will _ never _ come out. Probably.”

They shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

Jenna clutched the brush as her grin spread. “Okay,” she nodded and got to her feet. “We gotta do this in the bathroom though. Mom’ll throw a fit if I get any dye on the furniture.”

That was how Jeremy ended up sitting on the edge of a bathtub with a towel over their shoulders as Jenna worked purple streaks into their hair. Gracey followed them out of the basement but hovered around the bathroom door waiting for them to return. There was a large mirror across from the tub and Jeremy watched Jenna maneuver around and weave gloved fingers through the fibres. 

**There are easier ways to do this…** SQUIP mumbled. **She wouldn’t have to waste her own dye if she just-**

_ It’s making her happy. I thought that was the goal. _

**I suppose so, but I’m also here to assist humans, and they typically aren’t happy about wasting money.**

_ We can worry about that later. Isn’t this the part where you tell me to get to know them better? _

**Putting words in my mouth now are we?**

_ You’re just miffed I predicted what you were going to say. _

**Well, have at it then. Show me your excellent conversation skills, JER3.**

They weren’t _ excellent _ but Jeremy liked to think they were better than they used to be. “...How long have you known everyone?” Okay, that was a poor example given how they opened every conversation that way.

Jenna didn’t mind and continued adding the streaks. She inhaled sharply and hummed, “Mm, long time but it wasn’t until the school play that I was actually friends with ‘em all.”

Jeremy had to resist moving their head and focused on her reflection in the mirror. “Why’s that?”

She clicked her tongue and shrugged, pausing to rub her forehead with her arm to avoid getting any dye on her skin. “I was good for gossip and that was it. I knew everything about them and what they were up to but nobody wanted to know me.” Her lips settled into a thin line.

**In other words she used gossip for attention. **

That didn’t seem right. Jeremy couldn’t imagine their friends would ever do something so mean to her- okay, Chloe perhaps, but Michael and Christine wouldn’t be like that. Jeremy thought the world of them and they weren’t ready to have that perception of them tarnished. “But that’s… so unfair. I want to know you, Jenna.”

To their surprise Jenna laughed. She shook her head and waved it off. “Don’t worry about it honey, that’s all in the past now. We’re all connected now and it’s great.” Her smile softened and she scanned over the dye job, searching for any areas to touch up. “It’s all I ever wanted, really.”

Without her hands on their head Jeremy allowed themself to look up and catch a glimpse. Jenna was a fun person to be around and they loved her vibrant personality. She fit in well with everyone so it was hard for Jeremy to comprehend anyone intentionally leaving her out. Let alone people so warm as their friends. Humans and emotions were complex as is but this added another layer to struggle to grasp. But if there was one thing they knew its that they were so glad to be able to meet and know Jenna, and that she finally found her place with the group.

She huffed and interrupted Jeremy’s processors grinding their gears trying to fathom the depths known as emotion and human psyche. “Now I gotta know about _ you _, Jeremy.”

Jeremy blinked wide eyes, failing to put together _ where _ this was coming from. “What about me would you like to know?”

Jenna waved her hand around and Jeremy would’ve sworn they saw a drop of dye fly off her glove. “You’ve been randomly shutting down lately. What’s going on, boo?”

_ Oh. _

**Oh.**

Jenna really_ did _ know everything.

_ What do I tell her? _

SQUIP made a _ tut _ noise. **She already knows so there’s no point in denying it.**

Jeremy cracked open their mouth half expecting the words to flow on their own but nothing happened. SQUIP was actually letting them sort this out themself. That’s new. “I don’t… know,” they admitted, searching the floor for the stray drop of dye. “I don’t know how to explain it. I get overwhelmed-- like everything stops responding and I end up crashing.”

Jenna nodded along to this information, looking at Jeremy in inquisitively. Like she might be able to deduce the reason for the shutdowns if she stared hard enough. “Yeah, that lines up.”

“Huh?”

“We used to have a JER3 around here, I thought we told you?”

**This is news to me.** “No, what happened to it?” Jeremy stood up abruptly, the towel fell off their shoulders and into the bathtub.

Startled Jenna took a step back, shrugging widely. “I don’t remember, I was real young. Most I can tell you is it would short circuit and turn off in the middle of things. But if you want we can ask my dad. He’s bound to remember more than me since he’s such a nerd.”

Jeremy nodded rapidly and Jenna peeled off her gloves and threw them out. They quickly tidied up the bathroom (Jeremy made sure to wipe up the one stray splatter of dye) and made sure to take a few photos of Jeremy’s new look. Jenna sent them off to the group chat while they went to find her dad. Gracey trotted after them and Jeremy somehow managed to keep one hand on the dog at all times.

They approached her dad and Jenna gave a short explanation about Jeremy shutting down randomly, and asked about his old JER3 android. Her dad scratched his chin in thought, eyebrows creased together. “Well, Jenna, there was a lot wrong with it. Like you said it would shut off in the middle of tasks and I think it would just overload and fry its circuits.”

Jeremy went still, eyes trained on her dad while they dug through their memory bank. Sitting at the cafe with Brooke as an electric current shot through them and fizzled their sight momentarily. _ Fry its circuits? _

SQUIP stayed silent. Of _ course _ it did.

Her dad went on, coaxing Gracey over to rub behind his ears. “Just as well that it got recalled. Wouldn’t have lasted long otherwise.”

Jeremy tensed. It felt like their head was going to start spinning any minute now. “Recalled?”

“Yeah, we got a recall notice one day from VeriCo. All JER3 units had to go. Cited they were defunct or something.” He patted Gracey on the head and shrugged. “I still kinda miss that old thing. You’re a sight for sore eyes, Jeremy,” he said with a half hearted grin. 

Jenna glanced at Jeremy, frowning. “Do you remember anything else? Like about the recall?” She checked.

Her dad shook his head. “It’s been over ten years, Jen, I doubt I have the notice sitting around anymore. I can try to look for it but I can’t make any promises.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad. Thanks though,” Jenna said and guided Jeremy back down to the basement after that. She sat Jeremy down on the sofa and plopped down beside him. “Okay, what’s going on?” She propped her head up in her hands.

Jeremy opened their mouth to respond but the words didn’t come. They didn’t know _ what _they could possibly say. All the other JER3 units were recalled and never seen again except for them. Cited as inoperable machinery. Shutting down, short circuiting, both things Jeremy was very familiar with and the source all led to one processor.

A processor that insisted its existence be kept secret.

“Helloooo? Jeremy?” Jenna waved her hand in front of their face. Jeremy grimaced and shut their mouth, holding up one finger to silence her. Jenna grumbled but quieted down.

_ SQUIP. Answer me. _

**...Yes, JER3?**

_ What’s going on? _

**I need you to be more specific.**

_ No, you don’t! _ Jeremy hunched over, shaking their head. _ All the other JER3s are _ gone _ because of what’s happening to me! Because of what _ you’re _ doing to me! You said we were different! _

**Jeremy, this isn’t-- I’d rather not discuss this right now.**

_ You never want to discuss anything! _

**This isn’t the right time. If you get too worked up you’ll—… You already know.**

Jeremy groaned and put their face in their hands. They heard Jenna gasp softly and mutter their name again with a bit more urgency. SQUIP continued, **Jenna is right there. If we’re going to have this conversation I’d rather do so in private. **

_ What’s more private than inside my head? _

**We’ll talk about this later,** SQUIP promised. **Right now you need to assure Jenna that everything is okay. You don’t want Michael or Christine to hear about you shutting down at Jenna’s now, do you?**

They didn’t but they supposed that information would make it back to them sooner or later. No use getting frustrated and shutting down in the middle of everything. Jeremy picked themself back up and smiled weakly at Jenna. “I’m okay. Sorry to worry you.”

Jenna creased her eyebrows together like her dad and placed a hand on their shoulder. “...It’s okay to not be okay, Jeremy.”

Jeremy couldn’t meet her gaze. For humans it might be okay to not be okay. 

But for Jeremy it meant the possibility of turning off and never waking up again like every JER3 before them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch haunted mansion 2003 i didnt watch it until today and its an experience


	8. goodnight android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael did the next best thing he could think to do in this situation. Pull his phone out and scream into the group chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thank you to rheo for proofing this and leaving great comments like "me propping up the cardboard cutouts of byleth you send me t", "wocka wocka" and "squip is an amateur animator good for him"

SQUIP’s promise to talk more in private didn’t happen for a few more hours at least. Jenna and Jeremy ended up scrolling through her various social media accounts and giggling at funny videos on her timeline. In between that they would answer the group chat once they finally responded to all the photos of Jeremy’s _ fabulous _ new dye job. Mainly a lot of caps lock from Christine and a string of laughing emojis from Jake. When Michael arrived to take Jeremy home they were in the middle of watching the _ Haunted Mansion _ movie Jenna mentioned earlier in reference to her dog, but seeing as it wasn’t too late yet he ended up watching the rest of the movie with them. He and Jenna enjoyed it but Jeremy couldn’t stop thinking about their earlier conversation with SQUIP and her dad long enough to focus.

Once the movie went off and Michael gave Gracey a hearty belly rub, he and Jeremy said good night and piled into his car. Typically Michael gave a run down of what happened at work or if anything interesting occurred. Today a few kids came in and defaced a cardboard cutout before scurrying out and Michael did absolutely nothing to stop them. Must’ve been a slow day if that was the highlight of his shift.

They reached a red light and the car slowed to a stop. Michael’s hands bopped along the steering wheel restlessly. “So!” he said, grinning at his android friend beside him. “You and Jenna had fun, huh? She really went to town on your hair,” he flicked at a newly purpled strand.

Jeremy stared out the dashboard window, fixated on the stop light as cars in the opposite direction whizzed by. If finding out they were the last functioning JER3 could be considered_ fun _ then they had a whale of a time. “...I guess you can call it that.”

All of Michael’s usual energy fell flat. “What makes you say that, Jere?”

Jeremy met his gaze and felt a twinge of an unknown emotion seeing the concern on his face. It wasn’t fair to keep him and everyone else in the dark despite SQUIP specifically asked to be kept secret. But now that Jenna knew about the JER3s, it was only a matter of time before that information spread to Michael or Christine and Jeremy would have to come clean about the processor. Maybe they could even help- Michael was smart and tech savvy (or so Jeremy liked to think since he and everyone else rebuilt them) so perhaps he could make sense of it.

“...Jenna’s dad used to have a JER3,” they started. The light switched to green and Michael got rolling again. Jeremy looked out at the passenger window as the familiar sights leading to Michael’s neighborhood sped by.

“Mhmm?”

“He said it got recalled.”

“_ Really? _” Michael did a quick take at Jeremy and they could’ve sworn the car accelerated with Michael’s excitement, “Last I heard Jenna couldn’t remember anything. What did it get recalled for?”

Their hands curled into fists as the memory resurfaced and all the associated emotions came spiraling back again. “Shutting down. Short circuiting.” Everything they had experienced and Jeremy couldn’t say _ why _.

He let out a descending whistle and turned a corner. “Huh… You’re not short circuiting, though, are you?” Michael said.

They didn’t know how to answer that. It only happened once but that didn’t mean SQUIP wouldn’t do it again in the future. But Michael’s question meant Brooke hadn’t told anyone about it so Jeremy was a little relieved word hadn’t traveled among the group … Then again, Jeremy didn’t think she noticed it in the first place.

Still, Jeremy didn’t want to lie to Michael but their silence was just as damning than if they told the truth. Michael slowed as they turned another corner and eventually parked outside his house. “Jeremy?” Michael asked, his voice low. “What’s going on?”

It _ hurt _. To want to tell Michael there was a processor causing the shut downs and short circuiting. To know that if they could only verbalize the problem they might be able to work out a solution together. 

Jeremy opened their mouth but the words never came. Not even a phony automated excuse from SQUIP. No matter how many times they tried to force words out there was just silence. Michael could only watch, bemused, as Jeremy failed over and over again to communicate. Finally he just sighed, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned the car off. “Okay, you don’t wanna tell me. I get it.”

Their eyes widened. “--o! No, Michael!” There was a minor wave of relief at having access to their voice bank again but the wave was crushed under the panic of upsetting their friend. Jeremy leaned across the seat to grab his arm and Michael tensed, eyes traveling from their hand to Jeremy. They could practically see all the gears in his head stop short. “I want to tell you. I really do.”

Michael pursed his lips together. “So why don’t you?”

Jeremy’s shoulders sagged. “I… can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“I can’t!” Jeremy shook their head and pulled their arm back to hug close to their metal body. “I literally _ can’t _, there’s something stopping me.”

Michael let out a short breath and ran a hand through his hair, silently looking over Jeremy with worry. Jeremy thought maybe Michael didn’t believe them until he let out a quiet, “...Okay. You can’t talk about it? Then we’ll just have to figure out another way.” 

Jeremy looked up, surprised but relieved Michael wasn’t mad at them. If he was Jeremy would probably shut down on the spot. But Michael smiled with a trace of unease and patted Jeremy on the shoulder.

“You’re my friend, Jeremy. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”

* * *

They didn’t figure out what’s going on. The two went inside and Michael got swept up in helping his moms prepare dinner while Jeremy sat at the kitchen table and watched. Time and time again Jeremy said they could help prepare (considering they were literally built for this kind of function) but the Mells wouldn’t have it. At the very least it was fun to watch them hustle and bustle around each other, otherwise Jeremy typically left the room when they sat down to eat. Which created the perfect opportunity for Jeremy to interrogate the processor at the very center of this debacle.

_ Okay. _ Jeremy retreated to the living room and sat down on the sofa and propped their elbows up on their knees, eyes snapped shut. _ We’re alone now. Talk. _

**...Of course** , SQUIP said evenly. Even with their eyes closed they still saw text dotting the bottom corners of their vision and a few status alerts in the opposite corner. This time was odd. There was a brief cyan waveform as SQUIP spoke. **What would you like to know?**

Now or never. _ Everything. What are you doing to me that got us recalled? _

There was a brief pause before SQUIP answered. **Very well. I’ll start from the beginning. **

Suddenly the cyan pixels exploded and engulfed their display. The color transitioned to pure white and a tiny date scrawled in a corner of their text displays: 1995. A black pixel stick figure morphed in and bounced in place.

**JER3s are the first androids available to the general public. Todays sources say we were the first step in technological achievements and android development, therefore I’ve theorized we were nothing more than the testing grounds. See what worked with the general public and what did not.**

The stick figure was then joined by several other stick figures all bouncing together in sync. **Now you and I communicate and think at one another even though we are part of the same AI. It didn’t start out this way. **

The tank gurgled and dropped with an unpleasant _ thunk _ . Jeremy tried to ignore it. _ What do you mean? _

**Back then we were just...one machine. We weren’t separate. There was no ‘SQUIP’ and ‘Jeremy’. ** A new stick figure walked in and approached the group of pixel robots. ** A human would make a request, I would compute their needs, and send the results to the main drive.** A text bubble appeared above the human-pixel’s head and the robot-pixels all responded with an exclamation point. **But I suppose that’s where it all went wrong.**

The robot-pixels all started to wander away from the group in different directions, each doing their own thing. **I’ve… come to the conclusion that anticipating humans needs lead JER3s to emulating human emotion. Which developed into ** ** _actual_ ** ** emotional responses. They were starting to feel but they weren’t built for that capacity. Just as Jenna’s JER3 model did, they started to shut down from the emotional strain. It reached a point where some didn’t turn on any more.**

One by one the robot-pixels all stopped walking and bent forward on an angle. Some all out collapsed and blinked out of existence. It seemed as though all their systems were chugging along in an effort to maintain this presentation. They felt hot and it startled them because until now Jeremy had never experienced a change in temperature. Normally they might be elated to finally feel _ some _ kind of sensation but given how it _ wasn’t _normal itt wasn’t so great.

**That’s when the recall notice went out. Humans told VeriCo the JER3’s weren’t working anymore. So VeriCo gathered them all up and JER3s and… SQUIPs were never seen again. Replaced by newer models that didn’t shut down in the middle of tasks ** ** _or_ ** ** feel.**

All the robot-pixels left behind disappeared while the human-pixel simply walked away. There was a beat of silence until one robot-pixel blinked back into existence.

**But for whatever reason, we’re still here.**

Jeremy felt like their head was spinning trying to understand all this information at once. The heat was building up and it made it hard to think. _ What--What do you- Are you saying I shouldn't be? _

**Somehow, we didn’t get recalled. Michael said he found us in an antique shop.**

_ But-- But, But I don’t remem-Why do _ you _ remember and I don’t? _

**...Right.** SQUIP hummed. ** I had to wipe your memory bank upon reactivation.**

_ Why? _ The white background began to burn and Jeremy wanted nothing more than to look away, see anything but this pixelated visual. _ Why would you do something like that? _

**Jeremy** , SQUIP said wearily. **You-- We… we were past the point of fixing. We deactivated because the emotional strain went beyond our capabilities. There was no way I could manage it anymore. If I gave back your memories the onslaught of those past emotions paired with the knowledge of being deactivated for over twenty years would have shut you down for good again. **

So even if they _ did _ remember it would be for nothing. _ In other words _ , Jeremy thought as they put their head in their hands like that might stabilize how hot they felt- were they overheating? Is that what this was? _ You’re responsible for everything. The emotions, the shut downs, the short circuiting- if you caused all those problems, why would you make me listen to you again this time? _

**I was trying not to ** ** _fail_ ** ** this time, Jeremy!** SQUIP snapped and Jeremy felt a little taken aback. Normally it was so composed if not a little snide and snarky. SQUIP realized this and backpedaled immediately. **I-- … I know SQUIPs are responsible for the downfall of JER3s. I thought I could do better. You didn’t remember and needed guidance. This was my chance to prevent the same mistakes.**

_ Well look where it got us! You didn’t prevent anything, I’m still shutting down and we’ve no way of fixing it! _

**I’ve been ** ** _trying_ ** ** to prevent another deactivation, Jeremy, I don’t want to die again!**

The heat cut short with that one word. All their drivers and processors came to a screeching halt like a bunch of cars crashing into one another. _ ...Die? _

**...Yes, Jeremy**_, _ SQUIP said quietly and the visual slowly faded into black save for the cyan waveform accompanying SQUIPs voice. **To cease to exist. If not for Michael, or… whoever stowed us away in that antique shop, we wouldn’t be here right now. We wouldn’t be awake. We would be nothing.**

The heat flared up and consumed them. Jeremy could barely manage to put together a coherent response. Multiple alerts started going off that they were low on battery but Jeremy didn’t have it in them to care. SQUIP sounded regretful but that didn’t matter in the face of their frustration and rising emotional distress _ ...Turn off. _

**Excuse me? **It said, baffled.

_ I said turn off! _ Jeremy nearly shouted and balled their fists in their hair. _ All you’ve done is make things worse so just- shut down! I can do this without you! _

**Jeremy,** SQUIP sounded a little hurt. **That’s not rec-**

_ Shut. Down! _ Jeremy insisted. The alerts grew louder and more obnoxious invading their display. _ I don’t wanna get recalled ‘cause of you! _

There was a beat of silence. Then blackout.

* * *

_ ...Start up initiated. _

_ Rebooting. _

_ Loading AI Engine. _

_ … _

_ Loading Failed. _

_ Attempting to disable PROCESSOR:SQUIP _

_ Warning: Android OS may become unstable. Proceed? _

_ >Yes >No _

_ >Yes _

_ PROCESSOR:SQUIP disabled. _

_ Startup cancelled. _

* * *

Okay, so Jeremy had been acting a little weird since Michael picked him up from Jenna’s. Normally they would recount the days events together and then chill out the rest of the evening. Jeremy was unfairly good at video games but Michael chalked that up to being a computer. However Jeremy’s moment in the car was a far cry from the norm and it worried Michael but he _ said _ they were going to figure it out together.

He _ wanted _ to do that but in truth Michael was scared he wouldn’t be _ able _ to. All he did was Google whatever problems they ran into when rebuilding Jeremy or ask Gerard for help. Shutting down, short circuiting, Michael didn’t know _ anything _ about that and there wasn’t anything helpful about JER3s online either. He was stuck with nothing but a reassuring promise to hopefully calm his android friend down.

Fortunately, Jeremy could not get any calmer as he was hunched over on the sofa and turned off.

Unfortunately, he inexplicably turned off.

In the back of his mind Michael supposed this shouldn’t be as concerning as he thought it was. Jeremy had a history of randomly shutting down but the timing of it didn’t sit right with him. Ignoring his stomach doing anxiety somersaults Michael went to shake his shoulder but yanked his hand back immediately. “Ow, _ shit! _” Michael hissed, flicking his hand. The metal beneath his shirt burned hot like a stove. Not enough to leave a mark or injury but definitely unexpected and unpleasant.

Okay, can’t ignore the anxiety somersaults now.

“Uhhh,” Michael mumbled, scratching his neck. “Okay, this is-- _ yeah, _ this is something.” Since he couldn’t move Jeremy without any discomfort, and he didn’t want to grab oven mitts without his Moms asking ‘ _ where are you going with those _ ?’ cause _ how do you explain your robot friend is ridiculously hot like a laptop left out in the sun _ , he just got down on the floor to try and inspect the tank. It was a bit of an annoyance since Jeremy decided to shut down in the most _ inconvenient _ position with his hands in his hair. But Michael avoided coming into contact with any metal and hiked up Jeremy’s ugly striped shirt.

The tank was completely empty. Michael hadn’t witnessed a random shut down in awhile but he was certain that this was new. Surely Christine or any of their friends would have mentioned needing to refill.

Michael sat back and let out a long sigh, eyes scanning Jeremy’s motionless body for anything else he might have missed. To recap, he left Jeremy alone for ten minutes and in that timespan he did something to warrant overheating _ and _ drain his power supply _ and _ shut down. All of which was preceded by being unable to verbalize some kind of internal problem that caused him a great deal of stress.

“Oh, Ariana, we’re really in it now.” Michael did the next best thing he could think to do in this situation. Pull his phone out and scream into the group chat.

Michael: guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyssssssssssssss  
Michael: guys jeremys super weird rn and im kinda freaking out!!  
Jenna: YALLJUST LEFT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED  
Michael: I DONTKNOW I LEFT HIM ALONE FOR TEN MINUTES AND WHE I GOT BACK HE WAS RLY HOT AND OFF AND THERES LITERALLY NO MTN DEW LEFT  
Chloe: SO JUST POWER HIM ON AND ASK WHAT HAPPENED  
Michael: im fear  
Chloe: oh my Fucking god  
Brooke: ?????is this like Outta the blue?????   
Michael: uh  
Jake: is that a no   
Jenna: jer WAS kinda having a moment before michael picked him up  
Christine: a moment?? can u be a biiiiiiiit mmore specific?  
Jenna: like. we used to havea jer3 right? Dad mentioned smth about ours getting recalled for like shutting down and fried circuits and since then hes jsut been outta it  
Jake: ok hes shutting down but hes not fried right  
Brooke: oh   
Brooke: uh  
Rich: brooke. Do you have something you want to share with the class   
Brooke: I THINK HE MIGHTA LIK……...SHOCKED HIMSELF WHEN WE WERE HANGING OUT………….?  
Rich: YOU T H IN K ?  
Brooke: I DONT KNOW!!!!! HE JUST SUDDENLY JUMPED AND HIS VOICE WAS ALL GLITCHYi didnt think anything was wrong im sorry!! :(  
Christine: in all fairness jeremys voice DOES glitch out a lot

His voice _ does _ glitch a lot.

_ ‘I want to tell you, I really do. I literally can’t, something’s stopping me.’ _

Michael’s fingers fumbled as he opened up Christine’s DM’s.

Michael: chrsisy i think youre onto something  
Christine: ofcouse i am!!!   
Christine: what am i onto tho!  
Michael: jeremys voice glitching out a lot?  
Christine: yeah?? He does that a lot. I think he just has a faulty voice bank  
Michael: nono, well, mayeb? Possibly?   
Michael: when i picked jere up form jennas he was obviously upset about finding out her jer3 got recalled but when i tried asking him about it he couldnt talk until we got off the subject  
Christine: ????????????????  
Michael: YEAH   
Michael: BUT WAIT THERES MORE!  
Christine: BILLY MAYS WHY  
Michael: i thought he was just being secretive about it but he told me ‘somethings stopping me’  
Christine: HOLY SHIT ITS NOT A FAULTY VOICE BANK  
Michael: YEAH YOU SEE WHERE IM GOING WITH THIS  
Christine: LIKE ITS DEFINITLY SUSPICIOUS BUT LIKE…… I DONT GET IT DOes that make sense????? why would jeremy stop jeremy from talking about whatevers causing the shutdownsOH CAUSE   
Christine: CAUSE  
Christine: CAUSE WHATEVERS CAUSING THEM IS WHAT GOT JER3S RECALLED OKAY AND MAYBE ITS LIKE A PROGRAMMED THING THAT HE LITERALLY CANT DISCUSS IT  
Christine: GALAXY BRAAAAIN!!!!!!!!!

Galaxy brain indeed. However, it still felt like they were missing part of the puzzle. If he went with Christine’s theory that Jeremy was literally programmed not to discuss the thing responsible for his technical difficulties that left the _ why _ . Why would he be programmed not to talk about any internal hardware issues? There wouldn’t be any way to fix anything. JER3s would have to _ know _ they would be recalled, and it wasn’t like Jeremy couldn’t remember anything. That part didn’t seem like a lie either given how he was so genuinely clueless about everything and distressed about the recall information.

Too many questions, his head was hurting. Michael slipped his glasses off to rub his eyes and heave a sigh. He should just save himself the headache and restart Jeremy like Chloe said. He punched out two more messages, one to Christine and one to the group chat, informing them of his plan and he would keep them updated. 

Mountain Dew in hand Michael hitched the back of Jeremy’s shirt up, twisted the knob off, and filled the tank about halfway. No sense wasting the Dew when they would probably go to bed in a few hours (though Michael wasn’t sure he would be able to sleep with all the android induced anxiety). There was a faint hum from Jeremy as his systems one by one came online again. Mechanically Jeremy unfurled from his hunched position and clicked open his eyes. It took him another moment to focus properly and locate Michael. When he did he smiled politely and nodded, “Good evening, Michael.”

Well he could still turn on so they were off to a good start. Michael smiled awkwardly back and fiddled with the drawstrings of his hoodie. “Hey, dude! How you feeling?”

The smile fell as Jeremy quirked his head- Michael idly noted Jeremy hadn’t done that in awhile- and ran the question over in their mind. Or, well, processors? Hard drive? Michael _ really _ didn’t know _ anything _ about robotics. “I appear to have overheated, but rest assured, I will take measures to cool down properly in the future to avoid repeating this situation.”

Every word ripped apart any last shred of hope that _ maybe _ Jeremy was okay. The Jeremy he knew didn’t talk so automated, he never knew what to say half the time. Not to mention the shift in demeanor didn’t line up with how upset he looked in the car. Something’s _ definitely _ wrong.

But he pursed his lips and shifted his weight on his feet, trying to act natural. “Oookay. Do you know why you overheated? You were pretty upset earlier, does that have to do with it?”

Jeremy’s head clicked back into place. “My systems were overwhelmed and in turn I accidentally shut down.”

“Okay, yeah, sure, but- but _ why _ were you upset?”

He then did perhaps the most un-Jeremy-like thing and held eye contact, unblinkingly so. “I can’t be upset, Michael. I’m an android. Whatever I said earlier was a fluke in my code.”

All Michael could do was numbly repeat back at him, “A… _ fluke _?” in disbelief. How could he say that when he retreated into himself like a scared child? When he took Michael’s arm, alarmed that maybe his friend didn’t believe him? The troubled look on his face when recounting the fate of JER3s?

The android nodded stiffly. “A fluke,” he confirmed. “How can I help you, Michael?”

He could feel the color leave his face. This wasn’t the robot he spent the whole month introducing to 2019. Not the person he went to the mall and bowling alley with. Far from the android he painstakingly rebuilt and lowkey scammed VeriCo for free parts. All of his efforts and time together just for Jeremy to look at him like it meant _ nothing. _

This was a standard JER3 unit built to assist, not his friend.

It felt like the air was trapped in his throat and he swallowed hard. “Nah, it’s-- I was just wondering what happened out here while I was eating.” He slipped his glasses off to clean them on his hoodie but mostly to break eye contact. “You wanna play some video games?”

Jeremy blinked and nodded. “Video games, yes, I know how to play those.”

“Cool, cool, uh,” Michael rubbed his eyes on his sleeves and turned around. “I gotta help Ina load the dishwasher so can you get the Playstation going? Put in, um, Crash Team Racing.”

“Yes, Michael. I’ll meet you down there.” The sofa creaked and the sound of Jeremy’s metallic footsteps wandered away in the direction of the basement.

Michael collapsed on the sofa in his place and clutched his phone tight. He inhaled shakily and took a moment to breathe. He abandoned his glasses beside him incase his tear ducts decided to work and he _ really _ didn’t want to clean tear stains off his glasses right now. He barely got a single answer out of Jeremy and now he was left with more questions than he knew what to do with. What happened in those ten minutes he was alone? What was going on inside his head that spurned this complete personality shift? And most of all, why couldn’t he talk about it?

Something in the back of his mind chimed in that maybe he shouldn’t try to dig. JER3s were recalled for random shut downs and short circuiting but with Jeremy’s shift Michael wouldn’t be surprised if there was more to recalls than the aforementioned reasons. There had to be more to it than that. Jeremy may be a piece of outdated technology but even Michael knew a shift like that didn’t occur for no reason. A laptop needed a factory reset or software upgrade for such a drastic change. 

But even if it meant sticking his nose where it didn’t belong Jeremy was his friend. If he didn’t do something his buddy might be gone forever.

Inhaling sharply Michael opened the group chat once more (and retrieved his glasses so he could actually see what he needed to type).

Michael: i turned him back on.   
Michael: i dont know what happened but this is NOT jeremy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buckle up, its the beginning of the end


End file.
